FROM THE BEGINNING:The story of the creek

[Sheepshape]

Yes, TOR, you're doing a great job.It seems to me that many authorities are stuck in the Pre-Climate Change Era.....what was appropriate 50 years ago now needs a hasty re-think.

As I mentioned earlier, beavers are being re-introduced in Britain.....already established in Scotland and England, now they are in Wales, too. The slowing down of water on streams and river tributaries is showing amazing bio-diversity results with a resurgence of 'primitive' plants like liverworts and mosses in the dammed areas, reduced soil erosion and less flooding of populated areas. Folk just have to get used to them.....they were commonplace here 400 years ago. Rather more controversially, wild boars and wolves are thriving in carefully chosen sites (well, the wolves, at least)....I'm very much in favour, but not everyone is.

It's difficult to see why anyone would want to see a 'dry creek bed' which could become a desert as any rainfall, even if it comes in overall similar amounts to 50 years ago, now comes as two periods of torrential rain followed by drought rather than spaced out over the year.

We are seeing periods of very heavy rain (like at present)with high winds and flooding followed by drought over here. The ground hardens in the drought and the next period of heavy rain doesn't soak in quickly and floods the area, whilst eroding the soil. We have done what we can to slow the water flow in some areas and to speed it up in others to prevent field flooding. It has largely worked. Planting lots of sapling trees is helping to hold the soil together, plus we have re-instated some hedgerows. If nothing else, the visual impact is better!

Good luck with the ongoing project.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks,firstly I would like to express our heart felt thanks to the group for their support and enthusiasm for not only the results but for the concept itself.

Your clicks,likes and comments far exceed anything we get down here from authority's and academics.

Soon I will start on the last part of the story,but it will not be the end of the story as I have identified two sites one on either side of the creek proper .These are situated at the toe of the slope and the aim is to show how it can re-hydrate the portion above it over time.

Once again "Thank you" one and all......T.O.R.

 

[greybeard]

G'day, this "dry creek: is a regulated watercourse and we were threatened with prosecution it the work we did had any "adverse" effects on the dry creek bed.

Shades of "WOTUS".

 

[greybeard]

As I mentioned earlier, beavers are being re-introduced in Britain.....already established in Scotland and England, now they are in Wales, too. The slowing down of water on streams and river tributaries is showing amazing bio-diversity results with a resurgence of 'primitive' plants like liverworts and mosses in the dammed areas, reduced soil erosion and less flooding of populated areas. Folk just have to get used to them.....they were commonplace here 400 years ago.

Ahh, the good ol days eh?

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

THE GRAVE.

This structure got its name when Jenny first inspected it while I was in the process of “digging it”. She commented at the time…….”If it does not work I can always put your coffin in it to save the cost at the local cemetery”…..So thereafter it was known as the “Grave”.

My thinking at the time was I needed to bring the flow to as close as I could to a halt before it reached the boundary. To achieve this we needed two pools the second one deeper than the first, the other requirement was to “turn the flow” 90 degrees across the bed of the stream which had a sloping floor so that there was as little driving force behind the flow at the exit point (except of course in the “peak flow” situation).

Photo 1.The pool of water was a result of an overnight shower, note the use of the sheet of gal iron to act as a baffle so the bank could not be “undercut” by the flow. On the left the old fence posts were there to stop the disturbed soil from washing back into the pool. The log and upright dead branch was a landing spot for small birds which generally speaking like to survey the area before descending for a drink.

Photo2. In this pic the entry point is in the foreground and the exits on the other side .Wherever possible allow the water to travel over un-disturbed ground. The level in the second pool is determined by the water table at any given time.

Photo3.Allthough the 2nd pool is almost empty the moisture retained over time has meant that the bed floor is completely covered with active grass cover

Photo 4.Taken in 2013, shows how the two ponds work together to hold and hydrate the surrounding pasture, although the far reaches have yet to achieve the benefits.

Photo5.Taken in April 2014 and in the midst of a very good season the upper slopes are benefiting from the penetration at point of impact and the moisture retention down the slopes means that there is forage available well into the woodland and will be a good source of feed well into the winter months.

BELOW THE GRAVE. These two photos are interesting in that in the first taken Aug 2009 (one year into the program) the “failed “spring is so obvious on the rising country in the top right of the pic. The second one taken in Nov 2014 shows the site transformed (the two lighter small trees are English Hawthorns and the one to the right is a Euc species) the trees were self sown and survived in spite of the area being part of the normal grazing cycle.

Well that’s it for the time being .I hope you have enjoyed to story as much as I have in presenting it to you all. Into the future we will start a new program in the upper level of the catchment ,near to the “toe” of the slope.

View attachment 55331 View attachment 55332

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Oops, here are the last three photos.

 

[Baymule]

Retaining water rather than letting it run off is making a huge difference. I like the dead branch for the birds to perch on. It reminds me of my Squirrel stick. We have a 300 gallon galvanized tub for watering our horses. I keep a long stick in it so squirrels can get a drink, and more importantly, get back out and not drown.

 

[Baymule]

Oh good! I couldn't open the attachments, it said error. Glad you posted the pictures again. Do you have plans on digging more GRAVES? LOL

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day BM,the new program will focus on holding the moisture stream in the mid-catchment and providing a water point for stock in paddocks which at this point have none.

The new program will include a sat pic for each site and a diagram of the flows I have identified and how I plan to utilize them in the further development of the re-hydration of the site."Henry" is the key element in this program as he can excavate to over 5 ft to establish a new weir and barrier to hold back the flow from the upper levels of the catchment.

I do not expect the new program to start until about Feb next year as I have quite a deal of work for him to complete first....T.O.R.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Yes, TOR, you're doing a great job.It seems to me that many authorities are stuck in the Pre-Climate Change Era.....what was appropriate 50 years ago now needs a hasty re-think.

As I mentioned earlier, beavers are being re-introduced in Britain.....already established in Scotland and England, now they are in Wales, too. The slowing down of water on streams and river tributaries is showing amazing bio-diversity results with a resurgence of 'primitive' plants like liverworts and mosses in the dammed areas, reduced soil erosion and less flooding of populated areas. Folk just have to get used to them.....they were commonplace here 400 years ago. Rather more controversially, wild boars and wolves are thriving in carefully chosen sites (well, the wolves, at least)....I'm very much in favor, but not everyone is.

It's difficult to see why anyone would want to see a 'dry creek bed' which could become a desert as any rainfall, even if it comes in overall similar amounts to 50 years ago, now comes as two periods of torrential rain followed by drought rather than spaced out over the year.

We are seeing periods of very heavy rain (like at present)with high winds and flooding followed by drought over here. The ground hardens in the drought and the next period of heavy rain doesn't soak in quickly and floods the area, whilst eroding the soil. We have done what we can to slow the water flow in some areas and to speed it up in others to prevent field flooding. It has largely worked. Planting lots of sapling trees is helping to hold the soil together, plus we have re-instated some hedgerows. If nothing else, the visual impact is better!

Good luck with the ongoing project.

G'day SS,here is the problem I have with the re-introduction of higher order predators.In days of old they were hunted by the "upper classes" to contain their numbers because they present a danger to domestic livestock.In the USA they were hunted by the first nations and there numbers were restrained by the availability of food.It would seem that there natural food source was much more difficult to catch rather than the easy meal from domestic livestock and so the were hunted to almost extinction.To my mind the problem is that there are no population controls in place and so in a very short time the old problems will re-occur,but their advocates will "never" allow any culling of the animals.

What has been the result of the banning of "fox hunting"? have farmers resorted to the use of 1080 like we do in Aussie? Are farmers faced with increased predication of there new born lambs than are born outside like down here?.....T.O.R.