Mulched infiltration basin project series

This is a series that will keep updating monthly as I progress through the year.
The climate here is arid, located in the Yakima valley of Washington state with an average rainfall being 7.2 to 8.2 average.
one of the things I want to show is how to use overflow from the tank to feed the basin so as to feed fruit bearing bush or small trees, such as rugosa rose, nanking cherry, or maybe a velvet mesquite for nut harvest, Im still trying to think what else could be established for food production, I had already sown showy milk weed as a nectar source for butterfly's but also because I have seen that they like to grow near areas with accumulated moisture.

Looks like a good project for the area

What town are you in? I'm in Prosser.

With the amount of rain here, do you really expect to get overflow from a 400 gallon tank? I haven't even bothered to install gutters because we haven't seen a rainstorm that did more than make a little dripping off the roof so far - about like the rain in your video.

Izzy Bickford wrote:Looks like a good project for the area

What town are you in? I'm in Prosser.

With the amount of rain here, do you really expect to get overflow from a 400 gallon tank? I haven't even bothered to install gutters because we haven't seen a rainstorm that did more than make a little dripping off the roof so far - about like the rain in your video.

well Its a pretty large roof from the east side of the garage, it was mere caculation of runoff which could either be 1200 or 1000 gal a year so I plan for a 400 or 350 gal. tank.
I live in Sunnyside, and I have been trying to stay busy with my current projects in trying to grow as much as possible while conserving what little water I can manage to harvest, last year was 400, this year I aim to get 700.

yes I have seen a strange rainfall pattern over the years, still I still have to prepare for sudden downpours that may occur. If you remember back 20 years ago, we use to get reliable rainfall or snow storms, 50 years ago one person could safely ice skate at the ponds by the freeway going towards toppenish, this just isn't mere coincidence.

Haha, I'm only 26, so I don't remember anything from 50 years ago. And I've only lived in WA since May, so I don't remember the whether 20 years ago either.

My impression from talking to farmers is that most years there will be no runoff from their fields in the Horse Heaven Hills. But about once every 5 years, they'll get one field with about 2 inches of rain in 24 hours. I suppose if you plan your tank for those storms, you'll get some overflow from your tank.

Izzy Bickford wrote:Haha, I'm only 26, so I don't remember anything from 50 years ago. And I've only lived in WA since May, so I don't remember the whether 20 years ago either.

My impression from talking to farmers is that most years there will be no runoff from their fields in the Horse Heaven Hills. But about once every 5 years, they'll get one field with about 2 inches of rain in 24 hours. I suppose if you plan your tank for those storms, you'll get some overflow from your tank.

Where did you live before prosser?
Maybe you can show me some projects of your own I you like, sometimes I have service order at the post office once a month because I service the readypost display there.

Eventually, every tank will overflow. One of the rules of rainwater harvesting is "always plan an overflow". This is true even in very arid places because when we do get a good storm, it really comes down and can easily overwhelm a tank. 400 gallons is pretty small. I would think that it would overflow at least a couple of times a year. Plus you will need to flush the system out every once in awhile - this necessitates an overflow as well.

Jennifer Wadsworth wrote:Eventually, every tank will overflow. One of the rules of rainwater harvesting is "always plan an overflow". This is true even in very arid places because when we do get a good storm, it really comes down and can easily overwhelm a tank. 400 gallons is pretty small. I would think that it would overflow at least a couple of times a year. Plus you will need to flush the system out every once in awhile - this necessitates an overflow as well.

do you have a youtube channel I can check out?

You might want to check out Watershed Management Group's page and youtube channel

here are some previous pics. one thing I thought would work is by growing drought resistant crops such as tepari beans and oxacan green corn near the basin as an experiment. and with all that button weed that grows well with good moisture, I might be seeing an abundant salad harvest as well.

Hello Izzy and Nicanor.
I too am in Sunnyside. I'll be interested to see how this works out over the summer.

The almost finished tank so far, just need to attach the overflow pipe for the basin.