Permaculture Research Institute of Australia

Testing the dam

Dams, Water Harvesting — by Administrator

Following on from yesterday’s post on dams and swales in Minnesota, here are some pics of the system in action with the addition of the most important element: water.

dam's ready to go - just waiting for the rain

4 Comments »

Hi,

Could similar energy harvesting goals (water is one example) be realised without the use numbers of workers or machinery?
Contour planting/hedging, vetiver etc.
Is there an issue with tree establishment without swaling?

Hi Niels
you will get some effects from contour planting/hedging off vetiver and similar species or large diverse hedge rows EXACTLY on contour. These will accumulated organic matter and soils and silts moving down hill and in tern slow water which will infiltrate. Although earth worked swales will harvest more water and recover the landscape into stability and production faster.

Cheers Geoff

Comment by Niels — July 8, 2006 @ 6:31 am
[...] Following up on Testing the Dam in SouthWoods in Minnesota, here’s a series of pics showing how the new swales handled a decent storm. To start with, we had to wait almost 4 weeks for it. No spillway action yet, but the swales filled well. The top swale stole most of the rain run-off but storms are forming again. [...]

Pingback by Permaculture Research Institute of Australia » First big rain at SouthWoods — July 24, 2006 @ 7:27 pm
The focus of the water into the hillside has been fascinating. Even though we have had moderate rains and no spillway action as yet, the infiltration is visible and almost predictable. After two days the water is still seeping out the bottom berm into the annual garden area. (Next year’s garden) The clay apron of sub soil has worked to retain the water and accelerate the establishment of the trees and plants. Buck Wheat is now 31″ high, and flowering in only 4 weeks. The BW weed suppression has been amazing and we are now topping it off in place for mulch.. Guy Trombley’s Compost Tea was added two weeks ago, beefing up the stems, fruits and ground cover germination. Run-off from the hill has been significantly reduced and all plant guilds are flourishing.

Dan

Comment by Dan — July 26, 2006 @ 1:30 pm
SouthWoods Plant Community Observation & Maintenance Logs are available through the Permaculture Collaborative (Cold Climate) Forum.

Plant Surveys and Observation Journals formatted by Paula Westmoreland of PRI Cold Climate have enable each plant and guild to be monitored. We have developed shorthand notes and attach jpeg images for a visual record.

SW News: Even though the plants were installed on June 23rd. Buck Wheat is ready to harvest and standing 3-5 feet tall. It is being cut and layered over our 300 foot earthen wall for mulch and dormant seeding. Beneath the BW is a newly emerging ground cover of herbs and edibles. Raspberries are spreading exponentially and yielding huge berries in large clusters only weeks old. Thimble Berry and Blue Berry bushes are shooting up new growth, filling in the spaces between plantings. 8 foot tall Maximillian Sun Flowers have rocketed to the sky in the last 4 weeks. They will be our deer fence next year. Compost Tea by Guy Trombley has predictably enhanced the soil. Comfrey and Chickory plants measure 2-3 feet across.

The Dam continues to harvest rain from the catchment area and is spilling to the swales with each heavy rain. We have had a number of storms dumping 5-6 inches in a night. The roof and driveway catchment system brings fresh water each time. Large schools of minnows now populate the water having been literally pumped from a wetland pond via a 150 foot x 2″ fire hose in June. New plant guilds surrounding the Dam area are soon to be installed. Most all are edible while others infuse oxygen to the water.

Dan Halsey

Permaculturecollaborative.us

Comment by Dan — September 7, 2006 @ 10:11 pm