I am a student in Tom Ward's PDC in Ashland, OR, tasked with helping plan a small truck farm for the Jackson WellSprings: Mineral Hot Springs, Events & Retreat Center ...
Our design team is considering Hugelkultur beds at various locations around the perimeter of the site.
hand site color map_0001.jpg
139K View Download
We are interested in diverting the polluted water coming off Hwy 99 north of the site and Jackson Rd. which transects the property, and providing a sound and air pollution barrier. We don't know if Hugelkultur can be used to filter such water. And, we don't want to pollute the ground water as a result of our structures.
Some of the site already has swales which could be converted into Hugelkultur structures if and where that is appropriate. The question is whether Hugelkultur can be used for either diversion or filtration of problematic water or whether we would just accumulate and transmit the pollutants into our adjacent soil.
Our site is alluvial, consisting of Newburg fine sandy loam with a water table less than 6' below the surface. Water flow is onto our site and then to the northwest along the roads.
Please direct us to research on using Hugelkultur for water diversion or filtration, and give your thoughts on the propriety of Hugelkultur in our application.
BTW, we are in a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers (though we can get water to the project).
