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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Keyline Design - "Challenge of Landscape" book

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  • From: Richard Archer <permaculture@juggernaut.com.au>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Keyline Design - "Challenge of Landscape" book
  • Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:01:35 +1100

On 18/10/11 9:20 AM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
Did they impound any of that water or did it all just go into the
ocean?

Most of the water ran out to sea or into Australia's great "inland sea".

The floods came after months of well above-average rainfall, so all the water catchments were full already. I saw a creek that I've only ever known as a slow-moving stream about 6 feet wide running at full flood, filling it's entire flood plain 2 miles wide and 3 feet deep.

I'm not sure that there would be much point even attempting to retain flood water like that. I know Yeomans in his books recommends developing Keyline systems to capture 100% of rainfall. But I can't see the point of designing for a 1 in 100 year flood event when those flood events always occur in above-average rainfall seasons.

I would be more inclined to design for say a 1 in 10 year event - say 15-20% of average annual rainfall - because these can readily occur in the midst of a drought when water is more precious. And ensure the design allows the 1 in 100 year events to safely flow away.


Gulf Stream may have some effect. Maybe El Nino too, don't know.

If you have never learnt which climate systems drive drought in your area, it sounds like you don't have significant drought-related problems :)


Have you looked at Google+ yet, Richard and the Permaculturist
Database at Permaculture Research Institute?
>I am still interested in
the permaculture plant, guilds and knowledgebase database (RDB or
Wiki or whatever). I hope you're still on the PCDB list; believe it
or not there are posts to it from time to time, presently some
cellphone app developer...

I am still on the list, and still interested in the topic. I just have more important things to be working on for now. I hope to have some spare time next winter to work on projects like these.

...R.






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