Can you provide a photo of the area?
In
permaculture there are three types of
swale use.
First there is the On Contour, Leads to No Where swale and
berm, this one is level from one end to the other and holds water like a
pond would.
Commonly it is used on very slight grades (no more than 3-5 %) it will create water plumes downhill ( might pop out as a spring at the bottom of the slope if it is steeper than 5% grade).
Next there is the swale/berm with pond at the middle and end, this one is part of the Key Line method and it will be 1 degree off from the contour so water flows slowly along the length to fill the holding ponds which then sheet down to the next swale/berm/pond set.
This is well suited for
land with a grades in the range of 5 to 10 %.
Lastly there is the Main line system, a compromise consisting of key point pond with swales and berms heading off to ridge lines at a 1% slope the water goes in both directions usually and will fill the key point pond and usually stop ponds at each end of the swales at the ridges.
This is most suited for steep, hilly terrain with grades steeper than 10 %.
It is very important to select the correct one of these three for your land type situation.
Using an on contour set up on steep ground can end in disaster because of the water plume effect.
Using a key line type set can keep water from the slow seep downhill if it is built on to shallow a slope.
The Key Line system and the Main Line system are so similar as to be difficult to distinguish just by observation.
The main way to tell is by the number of ponds the swales contain.
Redhawk
