Capturing 100% of precipitation

I have an ambition to capture and sink 100% of rainwater that falls in a particular area of land.

In Hurricane Irene, five to ten inches of rain fell in two days. This was traumatic and terrifying for my part of the world, with many houses being carried away in floods. But Ben Falk didn’t think it was the storm’s fault.



Do you have any no runoff areas you’d like to share about, or ideas, or plans?

I have started by making swales (over the course of a few years I’ve made three thus far) and ponds. The third was started this fall—it’s small right now, no bigger than the last, but it is an important one as it is near the major source of drainage to the land.

Truthfully, every water catchment I have made so far fills up completely during snowmelt. This is similar in magnitude to a big rain storm, and there are few plants around to drink up the water on its course to the rivers. Not only that, but at snowmelt time, the first few inches of soil are thawed out, but everything underneath is still frozen so there can be minimal infiltration at this time. Everything needs to be held in a porous matrix (such as duff, rotting wood, etc.) or water catchment or it will definitely run off.

Not only snowmelt is there to ponder, but also the rain that comes with it and begins washing the snow down into the river! We generally get a big flood every spring and maybe again in summer.

On top of all this we have been in a state of drought for some years now, as the aquifer is depleted. People were worried about not having water in their wells this summer. Let’s turn this around!

I do notice that in the forests, the earth is unlikely to freeze as much as in an open meadow. Even a small amount of tree cover such as some young black locusts, has kept the ground thawed in one area. So clearly trees are helpful not only for evapotranspiration, mulch, hugels and biological water holding, but also for making a good infiltration microclimate!

It's important to look at the past history of areas.

I know many places that used to have large, shallow wetlands. Part of their job was expand and deepen when there was an excess of rain or snowmelt. Humans have a long history of draining wetlands.

Canada used to have plenty of beavers. Beavers create many "interrupts" in streams. Again, these held a lot of rain in an era where land wasn't "owned" by individuals, but were "traditional lands" of groups of humans who respected the Beaver People. When a group "controls" a large tract, and one area floods, they have other areas they can move to that are still part of their traditional areas. But when a person "owns ten acres" and half of that floods, that's seen as a problem.

Traditional humans in my area had "winter villages", "summer villages", and various other ecosystems they would travel to for the resources they represented. If you consider the Nile River as an example, those people expected the river to flood the plain at a certain time of year, and that was restorative to the land for centuries.

In my ecosystem, capturing 100% of precipitation isn't possible in the short term as we tend to get significant rainfall in the 3 darkest months when plants aren't growing. But that hasn't stopped me from working on the low hanging fruit - slowing and spreading the water I can easily influence, while accepting that big storms will run off faster than the ground is capable of infiltrating it. In areas of our "lower field", the water table is pretty much 2 inches below the surface during Dec. and Jan. and some years, most of Nov.

There are many human made issues that contribute to this issue.
I want to study that video and then come back with a comment.
As we destroy forests that can act as sponges, and cover more land with hard surfaces or pasture, flooding will increase.
As people draw from wells instead of capturing rainfall, ground water will disappear.
Of course agriculture and industry wants more and more water at minimal cost, and they dont care in the short term.
It will take a huge change in mindset to improve things.

Jay Angler wrote:It's important to look at the past history of areas.

I know many places that used to have large, shallow wetlands. Part of their job was expand and deepen when there was an excess of rain or snowmelt. Humans have a long history of draining wetlands.

Canada used to have plenty of beavers. Beavers create many "interrupts" in streams. Again, these held a lot of rain in an era where land wasn't "owned" by individuals, but were "traditional lands" of groups of humans who respected the Beaver People. When a group "controls" a large tract, and one area floods, they have other areas they can move to that are still part of their traditional areas. But when a person "owns ten acres" and half of that floods, that's seen as a problem.

Traditional humans in my area had "winter villages", "summer villages", and various other ecosystems they would travel to for the resources they represented. If you consider the Nile River as an example, those people expected the river to flood the plain at a certain time of year, and that was restorative to the land for centuries.

In my ecosystem, capturing 100% of precipitation isn't possible in the short term as we tend to get significant rainfall in the 3 darkest months when plants aren't growing. But that hasn't stopped me from working on the low hanging fruit - slowing and spreading the water I can easily influence, while accepting that big storms will run off faster than the ground is capable of infiltrating it. In areas of our "lower field", the water table is pretty much 2 inches below the surface during Dec. and Jan. and some years, most of Nov.

Yes, beavers and wetlands and thinking at a landscape scale!

Not saying that floods are bad at all, but something about our water cycle is broken and maybe having something around to do our part and soak some water in could be helpful. And this is not an aspiration that is applicable for every region or every piece of land.

If beavers were allowed to flourish then the problem would be infinitely easier.

The land in question is actually rather good at soaking already. Runoff gets caught in a natural oxbow pond surrounded by trees where it soaks in. But I am hoping for more soaking further up the hill where I am actually doing the planting and sowing. (The floodplain is covered in bishopweed and trees.)

There are some more areas that look promising as potential ponds. If there are ponds at strategic areas, then swales can empty into them, thus less swaling is necessary, and more happy frogs and salamanders.

Having a pond at the northern edge of the clearing above where there is the most sun and thus the most photosynthetic potential, may be one of those strategies. Shade is not an immediate necessity as most of the water that gets caught in depressions, soaks in by the time spring has set in (soil is mostly loam over a silt subsoil with the occasional clay patch, and bits of gravel as well)

I live near the tragic flood this years at Kerrville, Tx.

I feel that many folks do not understand about wet weather creeks that can cause tragic deaths and destruction of a lot of property.

Then there are 100 year flood plains that are also misunderstood.

Both are quite different from each other though the end result might be the same.

For the first time this year the wet weather creek that is at the front of our house turned into a raging river.  We have been here since 2013 and I have never seen that happen.

The year we moved here in 2013 we could not get to our property because the wet weather creek that is on our road was flooded.

Folks need to remember that Mother Nature is a might force.

One of the Permaculture Design Principles is Observation.

If folks would take the time before building and planning to use this principle it might save them a lot of time and money.

M Ljin wrote:

But I am hoping for more soaking further up the hill where I am actually doing the planting and sowing.

Yes! Sepp Holzer and Brad Lancaster both spoke/wrote highly about intercepting the water as high up on the landscape as you can. That high -up water has "potential energy" so as it comes down the slope, it picks up speed. We lost part of our farm road during an Atmospheric River because fast water erodes quickly. Now I am very careful about checking the forecast and making sure my "mini-dams" (2" high, made of mud and tree duff) are at an angle to guide the water off the road in many places. It is amazing how simple the process can be if you start high and do lots of "little" things.

It is important to understand how water can build up in soil. Sepp wrote in one of his books about how terraces and paths should be sloped down the mountain, not towards the mountain. He felt if you pushed the water to infiltrate more than that bit of mountain could handle, you ran the risk of a mud slide. However, he also put ponds high up, so clearly he knew his land well enough to gauge where water was safe, and where it was a potential risk. And he also planted trees and the right kind of tree can hugely help to stabilize slopes. Brad Lancaster, specifically to his ecosystem, planted Mesquite. I *soooo....* wish I was in their ecosystem! Apparently they literally pump water underground to store until they need it. Trees are much smarter than we give them credit for.

oxbow pond - in Australia we call these 'billabongs'.
Natural Billabongs (Water Features)
Formation: They form when a river's bend gets cut off, creating a U-shaped, stagnant pool that fills after rain.
Significance: Vital water sources in dry seasons, teeming with diverse Australian wildlife like birds, fish, turtles, and crocodiles.
Cultural Importance: Deeply significant to Aboriginal culture, serving as spiritual sites and ancestral story repositories.

Another thing I remembered today—

Some plants catch, soak up and transpire runoff early in the year when it is most important, the very early unfurling ones such as trout lily. But also wild honeysuckle, which is one of the very first to get leaves! I notice that they are not tied to polluted sites like some invasive plants, but will go anywhere. I wonder if this has to do with their purpose or place in the ecosystem of drying out compressed or waterlogged soils.

They do love thin soils too—interesting because they are alternately soggy and desiccated. But also will grow along logging roads, wood yards, old fields, abused or young forests and anywhere humans have destroyed and compacted the natural soil structure.

Ramps could be another plant to focus on as they are early growing, edible, delicious… when I have planted them under honeysuckle they thrived, interestingly enough.

I have found some honeysuckles with bigger, less acrid berries and wonder about selecting for an edible variety at some point. They are quite sweet despite the bitterness.