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Summary
Paul continues his review of
Sepp Hozler’s
Desert or paradise with Mark, Matt, Opalyn, et al.
Restoring hydrological balance – the creation of
water landscapes.
“Watch how water moves in a natural stream, and create water landscapes accordingly. A lake
should be built to enable three ways of water movement, with curved banks to allow a constant flow, aligned with the wind to allow wave movements, and deep and shallow zones to make the water move because of differences in temperature. [...]” They aren’t quite sure what he means by “curved banks” – it could mean a meandering shape, or just no straight edges. Looking at photos of his work, Sepp does like meandering ponds, so that’s probably what he means.
“[…] The ground acts like a water reservoir itself when it is covered with forest and other natural vegetation. It is saturated like a sponge – millions of
roots hold billions of drops of water which are released slowly, even when it has not rained for a while. This way, the
underground reservoir keeps being fed.” Paul has seen this in effect when looking at a patch of unharvested conifers on a hill with a road cut in it – the road was drawing a good 3-4 gallons per minute during the dry season.
“[…] Humans impose their ideas upon nature without considering the existing geology or shape of the landscape. People put in
pond liners and
concrete with great effort. That might work for a while, but it is ineffective, expensive and will lead to more disasters. Water damned up against nature can cause enormous damage.” Creating a massive hydroelectric damn isn’t nearly as good as a series of 300 ponds with the same surface area. That said, a large
pond will probably work better than a few hundred puddles, so scale is defiantly a factor.
“Contour lines and natural water courses are a valuable aid when designing a retention space. Using them makes life and work much easier – I use what is already there. The water divides materials for me and naturally creates layers of fine materials that are waterproof. […]” This isn’t quite universal – for example if you too much topsoil, the life in it will keep poking holes in the sediment and let the water escape.
Relevant Threads
Desert or Paradise thread
Desert or Paradise documentary by Sepp Holzer
Sepp Holzer forum
Sepp Holzer's 3-in-1 Permaculture documentaries (Farming, Terraces, and Aquaculture)
Pond forum
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This podcast was made possible thanks to:
Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Eivind W. Bjørkavåg
Suleiman, Karrie, and Sasquatch
Bill Crim
anonymous
Kerry JustTooLazy
Jocelyn Campbell
Wade Luger
Sasquatch
Kyle Neath
Chris Sugg
havokeachday
Bill Erickson
Dominic Crolius
Julia Winter, world's slowest mosaic artist
G Cooper
Penny McLoughlin
Ash Jackson
Mehron Kugler
Lisa Goodspeed
Mark
Pasquale DeAngelis
Sean Benedict
Greg Martin
Rita Bliden
Dana Martin
Candace Dahlk
Keith Kuhnsman
Eric Tolbert
Ruwan Nanayakkara
Polly Jayne Smyth
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