permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 10/17/2011 8:01 PM, Richard Archer wrote:

> 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.

I think 1 in 1000, or at least 1 in 500, year flood event would be wise 
if there is money to do it with. Put the work in up front and get 
payback for a long time; cost effective and less expensive overall when 
you consider cost of disruption of lives and services as well as 
rebuilding expense..

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

We always seem to get enough rain to keep our wells full; we do get 3 
month drought with extremely little rain then I supplement rain for 
garden irrigation with well water. Still permaculture offers best long 
term solutions to impoundment and water holding capacity of soil and 
overall integrated systems that conserve and store water. I am convinced 
of this.

> 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.

Maybe after G+ takes off and adds services this will be a helpful 
resource. I still have an installation of mediawiki and semantic 
mediawiki in my permaculture website but have not done anything with it 
yet.: http://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture

LL