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Pa Kilter
9 years ago

What a fantastic illustration thanks Jack!

Steven Harris
9 years ago

Where are the ducks…. you’d think they’d be all over that swale…. unless they are in the pond….

Steve

Carol
Carol
9 years ago

Amazing! Can’t wait until I can design my son’s property to do the same thing 🙂

Lukkas
Lukkas
9 years ago

This video does make me wonder why you aren’t putting in a duck pond down there at that low point to capture more of the water and put it to work.

I’m sure you’ve got your reasons Jack, though I’m curious what they are. [I’m guessing it might be related to the road being right there?]

Steven Harris
9 years ago

Jack… in a grid down situation, do you have the ability to put a pump in your tank and to pump the water into your 3000 gallons of stock tanks ??

Ya know… I guess you’d just run your well pump and pump up clean drinking water if you were going to go to the trouble to hook up a pump and a generator.

How deep is your freshwater well in that part of Texas ??

Steve

Roundabouts
Roundabouts
9 years ago

Love to see that! That is how they are suppose to work. Now I am breathing easier that I did the correct thing here by turning my into a hugle bed and closing it in. No matter how much it rained here we never had water in our swales Nice to see one in full swing. Thanks stay safe and well.

Jake
Jake
9 years ago

nice work, Jack.. likey

Gary
Gary
9 years ago

Excellent video and always good getting ahead on our rain here in Texas when we can

Brent Eamer
Brent Eamer
9 years ago

Best 7:22 of my morning Jack. Wouldn’t it be nice to
see a satellite shot of your property and the surrounding area in mid August…

Since I am a visual learner; seeing the end result in action makes it alot clearer as to how this is supposed to work…

Damian
Damian
9 years ago

Jack,

awesome video man! this is getting sent to all my bitching relatives in the fresno/hollister area of California. a ditch on contour that holds over 26,000 gallons of water may help to open their eyes on what permaculture can do for them. thanks again so much for everything you do!

-Damian

Jose Garcia
9 years ago

Very nice system. All that water just being retained.

Alan Waelbroeck
Alan Waelbroeck
9 years ago

I’d be interested in a follow up video telling us how long that water remained available for use. Great video showing the swales that are set up. Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!

DrewfromOZ
DrewfromOZ
9 years ago

Often times a swale will overflow in large events- as part of the design process, have you thought of the possibility of a “mulch trap” somewhere near where the overflow leaves the property? Large rain events often have wind or sometimes hail which will strip foilage- a cunning bit of design could not only keep that asset on your property for later use, but also maybe deliver it to where it can be either used, or a location from where it can be easily transported to where it can be used. Of course, in the ‘usual’ rain events there is no need for the trap, as the moisture is held in situ, as is the mulch. This is aimed more at the ‘extreme’ events.
Just a thought, and thanks for the vid.

DrewfromOZ
DrewfromOZ
9 years ago
Reply to  DrewfromOZ

My first line. ‘large events’. Clarified later. ‘extreme events.’
Not talking about what swales usually do and are designed to do for events like you have just had- talking about more water moving quickly through the system than the swales can process, potentially taking biomass out of the system.
Other than the fence, I see nothing in place.
I guess because I live in an area with 72 inches on average of rain, (and expecting a system today and tomorrow which has the potential to drop over a foot of rain in under 36 hours), and as a young feller had to repair a lot of fencing after flood debris clogged and then damaged it, it sort of stands out to me as a potential loss of a resource.

Scott
Scott
9 years ago

Jack, thanks for taking the time to film and post that. It was helpful for showing my wife what swales look like in a real-world system. Even though she’s an engineer and understands the concept, the visual helps a lot. She asked about the potential for swales to turn your property into a swamp/mosquito breeding ground. I said the water will seep into the ground long before that happens – even with our clayey soil – and that we’d space and size them appropriately to our rain events here in Missouri. If you have additional perspective to add I’d appreciate it, but that’s what I learned in the PermaEthos PDC. Thanks again!

Damian "louisiana suvivor"
Damian "louisiana suvivor"
9 years ago
Reply to  Scott

I believe Jack has commented on the whole mosquito thing in past episodes to be just as what you said. I think my rain gutters are more likely to breed mosquitos before swales, and I live in a swamp

Micaiah2004
Micaiah2004
9 years ago

Do you have a rain catchment system?
Do you plan to drill a water well or is that not feasible for your location?
I like the swale concept but are you trying to establish multiple water sources?
Like 3 or more water sources.