More on Water Management
22 Aug 2012
After all the great comments to yesterday’s post, I did a bunch more research and reading and youtube hopping to further refine by own understanding. Sometimes what we’re lacking is full definitions.
Most of what’s available on the internet about swales and “green” water management is meant for city and business planning. Directing water away from storm drains and letting it seep slowly into the ground is the goal, contaminants are cleaned from the runoff by the plants and soil, the resulting cleaner water replenishes groundwater and then enters the aquifer. This is in contrast to stormwater runoff which goes into the city’s drains and then usually directly into creeks or rivers, still filled with pollutants.
Well, how can I use this technique in my yard?
Flooding is not really an issue here. Gainesville is a giant sandbox. Even those areas in my yard that fill up to 6″ deep or more during a heavy storm drain within 15 minutes after the rain stops. Rain water falling on my property would never go into a storm drain, my neighborhood doesn’t even have them. So my goal isn’t to keep water out of the storm drains.
What I would like to do is catch the water that sheets off of the driveway towards a place where it would do some good, like watering a tree. Here’s a great page discussing this. Maybe collecting the water across the front of the yard by cutting a wide curved swale and then using the soil to build a slightly higher berm closer to the house? Then I plant the rest of the fruit trees in the swale. That would be a very big job but it would keep the water in my fledgling food forest, where I need it, and reduce if not eliminate the water flowing up the front walk and collecting in front of the porch.
I’m going to go home and walk around the yard some more and see if any other ideas spring forth.
June 19, 2013 at 8:46 pm 
Aug 22, 2012 @ 16:47:44
How about a rain garden?
http://www.protectingourwater.org/watersheds/get_wet/protectwater/raingardens/
Aug 23, 2012 @ 09:30:10
Yes! A swale in the “language” of permaculture is basically a long, shallow rain garden, focusing on trees. That’s a really cool website, too.
Aug 22, 2012 @ 16:48:23
I really want to sit down and read these two posts carefully, think about them, do some reading of my own, and – yes! – stand out in my upper garden in the middle of a rainstorm and watch the water move. What you’re doing and writing about is so compelling that I can’t even let myself think about it right now for fear of being pulled in, you know?
Everything eases off after the holiday weekend. We’ll have a couple of long chats in September, I hope.
Sep 06, 2012 @ 09:58:01
Great post. What is your typically rain season and non rain season?
Depending on the above answer, I would most likely recommending planting the fruit trees on the berm of the swale. Most fruit trees really dislike sitting in standing water, it creates a lot of fungus and rotting issues with the roots. Even though it sounds that everything drains really fast, it may be better to plant on the berm. I would suggest planting in the swale for folks in areas with minimal yearly rainfall.
If you plant the trees on the berm of the swale, this will allow the tree to be out of the water but still benefit from the moisture into the soil.
You can plant species that do enjoy the standing water inside the swale itself.
I am not certain of the size of your property but you may even benefit from two swales. Are you collecting the rain water off of your roof? If so, what about the over spill that you are not able to collect? You could put a swale in closer to the house that collects the drive way and roof water, and put one closer to the street that will collect the street water.
Sep 07, 2012 @ 12:24:43
Rainy season is early summer-fall. Winter and spring are the dry season, and sometimes early summer. Late summer and fall are hurricane season, that’s when we get most of our rain.
Those are great ideas! Thank you!