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  • From: FranksFarm@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Water Ponding/Management
  • Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 07:40:13 EST


Good day :)

Thanks John for the clarification on the key lines. Still a bit hard for this
lame brained ex city fellow to understand clearly. I'd probably grasp it
quickly if someone showed me those points.

Some comments:

<<They are concentrating water from the
hills/ridges to the hollows, is that correct?>> Yes, that appears to be the
case. Though in some instances they seem to meander along the bases of the
hills as they wind their way down to the creeks or bottoms. Those that do not
directly drain to the creeks can create boggy wet areas that can remain so
for weeks. That's the water I'm trying to direct where it will do the most
good.

Erosion seems limited to well defined drain areas that have been gouged out.
Where they join up depth and width can approach 10' or more. Run off has been
exacerbated by droughty condition which often make the clay based soil rock
hard ...probably less so in forests due to litter, etc., but still a problem.

I'd like to build some ponds on the sides of those hills but am not sure how
to find best places. I was simply going to find a deep drain near a shelf
that could be dammed up.

Heavy clay soils down here hold water very well. And often such soils are not
very deep. Only a few inches of top soil in many areas. Bottoms oth are
fairly deep, and for the most part well drained. Ponding in bottoms arises
due to changes /locations of grades. Changes in elevation are generally only
a foot or two over relatively short distances...some more gradual than others.

Lower pastures as suggested were probably just bull dozed and seeded without
much leveling so there are numerous fairly gentle undulations that lead to
ponding. Additionally there are numerous wet weather springs below the
surface.

So far I haven't found any that bubble out in drier times. Down here many
folks say you need to dig out springs. Any guideposts/clues/plant indicators
to finding fruitful locations?

Look forward to the list's comments. Hopefully some of the permculture, and
water management gurus like Darren can shed some light on this situation
which may be fairly common.

Thanks to all. Happy Holidays:) Frank









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