November Course - Watershed Restoration & Intro to Keyline Design - Quail Springs

Applied Watershed Restoration Course with an introduction to Keyline Design and application

Craig Sponholtz of Dryland Solutions, Inc.
Owen Hablutzel, HMI Certified Instructor / Keyline Trainer

Increase your working knowledge of water harvesting, erosion control and stream restoration practices with this four-day, intensive, hands-on workshop. Applied Watershed Restoration is designed for landowners and land managers, as well as practitioners, farmers, ranchers, restorationists and advanced students of Permaculture. It emphasizes working with, rather than against, nature and will establish the founda- tional knowledge needed to work effectively with our most precious resource, water. Acquire the critical skills needed to recognize the root-causes of water- shed problems and identify the best opportunities to make improvements. Learn how to assess, design, plan and implement projects that utilize runoff as a resource.
In addition, gain exposure to cutting-edge watershed restoration methods including natural channel design, in- duced meandering and agro-ecological restoration. Directly apply these new skills during the watershed restoration practi- cum and graduate with the confidence to evaluate the pros and cons of any water harvesting, erosion control and restoration techniques.

Course Outline:

Watershed Patterns and Processes
I. Reading Water Patterns and Processes
II. Form and Function of Channel Systems
III. Erosion and Deposition Dynamics
IV. Watershed Health and Degradation

Landscape-Scale Passive Water Harvesting I. Passive Water harvesting Features II. Traditional Runoff Farming III. Agro-Ecological Restoration IV. Water harvesting Earthworks V. Simple Irrigation Systems

Degradation Prevention and Restoration
I. Watershed Restoration Principles
II. Restoration Project Development
III. Low Energy Sheet flow Treatments
IV. In-Channel Grade Control Treatments
V. In-Channel Headcut Treatments
VI. Bank Erosion Treatments
VII. Watershed Restoration Applications

Watershed Restoration Practicum
I. Site Assessment and Survey Skills
II. Restoration Project Design
III. Project Planning and Logistics
IV. Site Layout
V. Hands-on Structure Building

Introduction to Keyline Design and Application
I. Background and Understanding Keyline Geography
II. Keyline Pattern Cultivation
III. Integrated Farm Planning
IV. Soil Formation Essentials
V. Practicum

More info on this upcoming workshop...





url=http://www.quailsprings.org/event/applied-watershed-restoration/]webpage[/url]

See you there in November![

So here is the link to the event.

And here is a pretty picture:



Owen, what is the tie in with this pic?

This picture is an example of one of the dozen or so potential structures one can build, using inexpensive on-site natural materials, the work with the dynamics of water to restore these landscapes... In the course folks will learn about this entire approach, often called 'induced meandering', and associated forms of erosion control and land re-hydration...

The actual structure in the 'pretty picture' is a series of built step-pools, or 'zuni bowl' type structures... these are patterned after naturally occuring step-pool sequences found in streams of a particular slope... the energy of the water is dissipated through this structural series, and ceases to turn its force into erosion... these structures are often placed in 'head-cut' erosion features (or where those used to be), as a way of stopping the 'un-zipping' of entire riparian zones through a lowering of the water table across whole valley features!

And that is only one of the many kinds of simple to build structures (based on sophisticated understanding of stream dynamics) that will be covered in the course...

Anyone interested in learning more about this approach can read a book review here:
webpage

This would be a great book to read in preparation for the course also, to get the most out of it...