Swale Filling Rain(Click Here for Video)
In June 2006 we put in these huge swales. They are designed to catch water and keep it in the area of plant roots in the orchard. Otherwise the run-off would sheet off the ground down hill into the wetland and not soak in as much as is needed. The video is during the only downpour we had so far this summer. 1" in about 30 minutes. That is a lot of rain to catch in a short time. Swales are designed to do just that and are usually oversized for that reason. Also, in spring they fill with snow, ice and water as the ground is frozen. Spring is an important time to keep the moisture that has been building up all winter and would otherwise flow away over frozen soil.
Comments
Here in North Wales, UK we have had too much rainwater this summer! We'd love some warm, dry weather once in a while.
We've had this weather system rotating around our area for days now. It has given me a change to fix all our leaks so when it does rain we keep most of it in the soil. Dan