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earthworks

swales

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posted 2 years ago

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Can you build swales near a house?

I live in Northern California and my goal is to use swales with a drip line to create a drought tolerant system. The idea was inspired by Geoff Lawton's "Green the Desert" project. However, I am concerned about having a ditch running parallel with the edge just over five feet from the house even though I am 90% sure my house is on the top side of the (extremely minor) slope. Yes, most of the year it shouldn't be a problem, but the couple of months where we do get torrential downpours I don't want to harm the foundation.

We have a relatively large side yard and would like to plant some trees come spring. Thoughts are appreciated.

John C Daley

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posted 2 years ago

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A bit more detail about the land and the house design may help.
But, from an engineering way there should be no problems, particularly if you create an overflow to limit the height to which water will rise in the swale.
You can also design the swale to be below the foundation if need be.

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Matt McSpadden

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posted 2 years ago

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I know there is some argument about how big it needs to be to qualify as a swale, but I recall an urban permaculture property where the guy had (what I would call) mini swales coming off the downspout of his house. It doesn't get much close than that. As long as they are designed well and will not direct water towards the foundation, you should be fine.

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Anne Miller

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posted 2 years ago

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I wonder if a french drain leading to a swale would be what is needed to protect the foundation.

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John C Daley

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posted 2 years ago

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In Canada once I just added about 5 feet to the bottom of the downspouts and pointed it away from the building moisture issues and the basement improved a lot

John F Dean

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Abraham Palma

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posted 2 years ago

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I too am afraid that's too close to the house. If your swale floods, it creates a water plume under it, and depending on how clayey your soil is, the plume is wider or deeper.

The best way could be to test it, filling a hole with water, then measuring how far the plume reaches. But you want the area around your foundations dry, so it's this safety distance plus the lenght of the plume. I don't know what can be in your case, however, five feet to the flooding area seems very on the edge. Ten feet sounds more sensible for safety distance.

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