UPDATE ON THE CREEK

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G’day and welcome, I seem to remember somewhere in the past there was a thread on “The Creek “and its repair.

The fact is that it is 18 months since we had any worthwhile rain on the place, but in the last month we have had about an inch, which has done nothing for our stock water reserves, but as the photos show the response from our management and restoration of the creek itself has been quite encouraging.

The lack of recognition of our efforts along with a string of “patronizing comments” from mostly academics and experts who for some reason cannot grasp the concept and why it works but in the same breath cannot fail to “acknowledge “ the results in front of them.

“Henry” is our new ranch hand, he is a CASE XC 1.7 ton excavator and one of his main tasks is to replicate the original concept further up the catchment which feeds into our restored creek line. As I see it we hold way more water in the substrate than we do in our dams (ponds) and the levels in these storages are in fact “controlled” by the pressure of water moving through the landscape from the upper catchments. I have over the years observed in large rain events that a given dam will fill to overflowing only to have it drain away to the “rising/falling “ water table which is controlled by the upland volume and pressure. So Henry’s task will be to install new underground weirs at the toe of the rising land with a slight difference from the first one, where the sheet of gal iron was laid horizontally in the new ones it will be vertical because Henry can “dig” two meters in depth and this should hold back a sizable amount of water and slow the discharge into the creek. His other tasks will be to assist in habitat destruction of rabbits and foxes which by regulation we now have to undertake on an ongoing basis.

At this point a lot of this concept is assumptions based on the past performance of the first one. Of course I will record in text and pic’s how it all progresses.

The other thing we are about to undertake (approval permitting) is a bore to ensure that at all times we have stock water available because as everyone keeps telling us we are going to get “drier not wetter” into the future

I am really looking forward to the next phase, once I have got familiar with “Henry”....T.O.R.

 

[Latestarter]

I'll be following this... I have a young boy's fascination with heavy equipment... I have "Henry envy" at the moment . I hope your plan achieves the desired effect.

 

[Sheepshape]

The other thing we are about to undertake (approval permitting) is a bore to ensure that at all times we have stock water available because as everyone keeps telling us we are going to get “drier not wetter” into the future

Water management is paramount in our ever-changing climates. I'll be following this thread to watch your efforts.

Over here ,Wales, generally known for rain, mist and a bit more rain, we had a summer drought which left us with scorched pastures and no winter feed cut. I know that half a world away you have suffered much worse conditions.
The drought broke here in August and we have had a fair amount of rain since. Enough to cut for silage and to have our familiar green back, but a real concern at the time.

We are not on mains water, relying on a spring which comes from a couple of miles away.The source is on a neighbour's land (and related to some old agreement),and involves the water going uphill for a stretch to reach us. Over the summer a fair number of folk on spring water lost their sources. Ours limped on through.....but we were ultra-cautious with the water and expected it to give out at any time.Neighbour was having to go to a local river source to fill water containers for his cows as their stream dried up. It meant we decided to look at a different supply for water, and contacted a small (and, due to the demand, very busy) bore hole company. Man with divining rods came and found underground water....fascinating stuff.....I could feel the pull of the rods over the designated areas when handed the rods. Drilling went down to 240 feet and took about 36 hours to complete through sandstone bedrock.The water was then sent for analysis and apart from being 'a bit hard' was found to be perfectly fit to drink (via our particle and u.v filter already in place). We now have a dual water supply. Oh and a sexy red version of Henry did quite a bit of channel digging about the place. He had an amazing (if not rather dangerous) driver who used the bucket to lever Red Henry up onto very steep slopes to lay channels......pursued, as always, by Border Collie who will try to herd anything. Red Henry driver had several play sessions with the dog .....quite hilarious...nearly 12 year-old Collie versus Red Henry.

The bore hole has just a manhole cover over it and leads to a pressure vessel in the outhouse which supplies the water to the house and some of the water troughs. A 'comfort blanket' for some years to come with these changing climates.

So....I look forward to reading your water management story.

 

[Latestarter]

Over here, an outhouse is a little different than an out building... It's used to eliminate bodily waste when no indoor plumbing exists... I don't think I'd want to drink anything that went through an outhouse at any point... Glad that you now have a second and reliable water source SS. I would continue to use the historical water source though for fear of loosing it through non use... No clue how water rights work over there.

 

[greybeard]

The other thing we are about to undertake (approval permitting) is a bore to ensure that at all times we have stock water available

Is that Australian speak for a water well?

Yes, the substrate usually holds more water than the surface and topsoil....and move more (plus from and across longer distances) because there usually isn't anything down there to prevent movement.

Nice machine. One of my friends has one about that size and he does a lot with it.
(You do realize in the picture, that you are traveling (or at least facing) reverse?)

 

[Sheepshape]

an outhouse is a little different than an out building

Oh crikey......no our little projection of a building contains only garden tools, general tat like half-finished tins of paint which will never be used, a lawnmower and the dog's day bed. It doesn't have an outside 'privvy' 'thunder box' or anything of that type.

The 'water from over the hill' has been provided via an historical agreement for which there is a contract written into the house deeds, so it would be foolish for us to lose this.

No clue how water rights work over there.

I have no idea, either, but certain things can lapse due to lack of usage, so always best to use. An example of this are so called "Rights of Way" which can go across private land and can be lost if folk don't use them. Ramblers groups aim for little used ones just to maintain this privilege. Incidentally our local signs say "LLwybr cyhoeddus", so a knowledge of local language helps! There are also strange rights which mean that if somebody puts their livestock onto your land and you don't remove them, then they can claim grazing rights after a certain period of time. Thankfully we don't have that kind of neighbour!

 

[greybeard]

"LLwybr cyhoeddus"

Brings back bad memories of an ex...originally from Cardiff, tho she didn't pronounce it that way. More like 'Kay-ertaf'.

Thankfully, the rest of the world realized the frequent use of vowels was not evil after all.

 

[greybeard]

I have no idea, either, but certain things can lapse due to lack of usage, so always best to use. An example of this are so called "Rights of Way" which can go across private land and can be lost if folk don't use them. Ramblers groups aim for little used ones just to maintain this privilege. Incidentally our local signs say "LLwybr cyhoeddus", so a knowledge of local language helps! There are also strange rights which mean that if somebody puts their livestock onto your land and you don't remove them, then they can claim grazing rights after a certain period of time. Thankfully we don't have that kind of neighbour!

Glad I live in Texas.
'Rule of capture'.
Taking another's grass=theft of resources and more than likely, legal and or physical loss of the trespassing livestock after the sheriff's dept sends them to auction...unless it happens in one of the open range counties.

 

[Mike CHS]

Straying animals here won't be seized (at least not the first time) but the stock's owners can be charged with a misdemeanor. It gets stiffer penalties for repeat offenders.

 

[Sheepshape]

If there's folk like that in the neighbourhood just put out the word that your sheep had resistant scab and that's why you removed them from that particular pasture.