Toby Hememway’s book “Gaia’s Garden” introduced me to the idea of swales (sort of bermed trench along slope contours to catch & retain water) as a strategy for water retention, but I recently came upon “boomerang swales” which, apparantly, primarly use rocks laid on the ground to build the swale and are constructed in a V shape (w/ the V poiting downwards). I was wondering if anyone had any experience and which one might more effectively catch/retain water on steep slopes.
I can help you, but I have questions.
how much surface area are you working with?
What is the intended purpose of the water catchement? are you trying to hold water in the ground or are you trying to catch it for other purposes.
overall, pretty large. i was intending on starting with sections (farther up the slope first, then work my way down).
i want to hold it in the ground. mostly for vegetation, but i’d also like to build the water table so the seasonal spring isn’t quite as seasonal. but, then, the slopes are pretty steep in some areas, so erosion is also a concern. it might be that some types of swales will work better than others depending on the slope, dunno.