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Confirmed spring / One rock dams

 
Tom Digerness
Posts: 48
Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 7 years ago
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This is a dry wash near my Utah home, that has supported a grove of cottonwoood trees.  In the back of my mind my entire life I had a hunch that there was water near the surface.  After a decent winter my assumptions proved true... the water broke the surface.  Though, I can't take credit, I have built quite a few one rock dams in the wash (most below where the spring showed up) and I took some pictures today.
20170415_111809.jpg
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The spring
20170422_133321.jpg
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The Grove plus some rock dams
20170422_133507.jpg
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A brush dam near the spring
20170422_133334.jpg
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Micro dams below the grove
20170415_150908.jpg
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The squashed headcutt above the grove
 
wayne fajkus
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posted 7 years ago
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Congrats.  I have a similar thing and it's exciting.

Sometimes the answer is nothing

 
Tom Digerness
Posts: 48
Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 6 years ago
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Maybe a little late but here are some pictures after the thaw of 2018, the winter wasn't wet enough for the spring to flow. All of the pictures are as I walked up to them, which definitely shows the need for constant maintenance of the rock dams (or the futility of playing in the wash)
2018-below-1.jpg
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Lowest of the pictures I took
2018-below-2.jpg
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Next dam up
2018-Mouth1.jpg
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Ram shackle brush dam at the bottom of the grove
2018-mouth2.jpg
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Same dam, different angle
2018-above-1.jpg
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Dam at the top of the grove
2018-above-2.jpg
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Next dam up
2018-above-3.jpg
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Next dam up
 
Chris Kott
pollinator
Posts: 3847
Location: Marmora, Ontario
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posted 6 years ago
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I notice all the silt accumulation upstream of each dam. You are obviously exerting control over some aspects of hydrology-driven change.

Do you have a larger plan for the land-form? As in, are you going to increase the height of the dams as they silt up, creating terraced steps down what appears to be a large gully-like formation?

-CK

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein

 
Tom Digerness
Posts: 48
Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 6 years ago
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I don't have any pictures, but over the summer there was a flash event in the wash. It relocated a lot of the rocks which were higher than the sediment catchment, but I didn't lose sediment, so I consider it a win.   The dams needed major repair.  However, I found out a perfect sediment dumping spot, by where the rocks were deposited, and I had plenty of building material for a new dam.
 
Tom Digerness
Posts: 48
Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 6 years ago
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I don't really have any plans other than catching sediment, and getting myself and the dogs out of the house.  Over the years I have noticed the cottonwood are spreading both below and above the grove.  It is in open range, so there are a lot of cow trails that I also play with outside of the wash.  Always finding areas I can make the water follow contour, with minimal work.
 
Tom Digerness
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Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 6 years ago
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With only round rocks available, I can only build one layer at a time.  A good pebble game is crucial.
 
Tom Digerness
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Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 6 years ago
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Here is an overview of the area.  If you follow the drainage that I am standing in, you can see the tips of the cottonwood grove (not yet leafed out).  As you can see, cottonwood growing in a "dry" wash, in the middle of a sagebrush steppe is quite spectacular.
20170422_160811.jpg
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Miles Flansburg
pollinator
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posted 6 years ago
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Tom, do you think that adding a few willow or small trees to each sediment area would help?

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Chris Kott
pollinator
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posted 6 years ago
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Echoing Miles, I was wondering if there were any deeply taprooted trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants that could be added around your sediment basins that could spread their area of influence.

I know that here in Ontario, Sugar Maple performs hydraulic lift, effectively bringing excess water up the soil strata for the use of other plants. If you could get something that works similarly, that could be used to build on the cottonwood copses.

-CK

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein

 
Tom Digerness
Posts: 48
Location: Northern Utah/Northwest Colorado
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posted 6 years ago
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Absolutely, roots won't roll away.  Eventually, I want to spread some big tooth maple and choke cherry seeds around the outskirts of the grove.  I don't think they need as much water. The cottonwoods already dominate the areas with water near the surface.  I have only seen the spring break the surface that once.  There are a few rose bushes and currents that have been volunteered by birds.
 
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