permaculture

[Rick Valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

> From: "John Schinnerer" <john@eco-living.net>

>> But- adding a pipe through the dam can cost as much as the dam.
> And what a deal it is nonetheless, especially long run, if one wants water
> out any time easy and free...maintenance is cheaper on gravity than on
> pumps & pipes too.  And it's easier to muck out an empty one than a full
> one, I'd think.
Siphons just take power to start them; I have seen more pipes through dams
that cause leaks, up to and including total dam failure and upstream
gullying, than I have pipes that function well. I've worked with many ponds,
and built 14 or so. Of course, any pond built on a stream in Oregon is
required to have a drain built into it, to guarantee flow in drought. (ie,
when the stream gets dry you are required to open the valve)

>> Doesn't adding flow dramatically improve the quantity & quality of
>> life in an aquatic system?
> No doubt, if it's poor to start with.  Re swimming, either you have really
> bad pond luck or I have really good pond luck... :-)

Well, I'm working with a huge sample, and I tend to jump (in) at any chance.
I'm not saying they're dirty, just weedy, slimy, muddy etc. Definitely not
"crystal clear".

>> The recent article on natural swimming pools in Permaculture mag
>> surprised me in that there weren't attached cascades and marshes with
>> water getting circulated thru; they relied on shallow margins of surface
>> area as large as the swimming area or more.
> 
> Makes sense - proportionally large shallow/transition ecotones, where more
> bio-activity happens due to fuller sunlight penetration and more stuff
> that can grow in shallow water (vs. less in deeper).  Now that you mention
> it OAEC's pond may do well for this reason.  There's one steeper part of
> shore with a dock float and human trampling, but most of the pond has a
> fairly wide shallow margin with lotsa stuff growing and cleaning.

That's the pattern of the pools by Michael Littlewood in Pc Mag. (and they
do use pumping- but I didn't see any detail about where the pump intake is
located) I'd like to see a retrofitted pool that works; I'd think a reedbed
cascade system could be fed by an intake in a gravel bottom, and provide
good filtration; cascades between the marshes would provide oxygen.