Earthworks for Clear Cut remediation

Along with the community building and eco-entreprenurial efforts we are undertaking in the Financial Permaculture initiative, our loose knit group of individuals and organizations here on and around The Farm is working hard on a clear cut remediation project.

I promised Daren Dougherty and other readers of the blog that I would post up our design as it became avaialable. Here is the first iteration of our design.
For a more detailed design you will have to wait and check out www.nemawashi.org as I take the time to format it properly and put up more information. For now....

Today I walked along the clear cut ridge overlooking Ledbetter Hollow with fellow permaculture designers Cliff Davis and Matthew English who have been spearheading the initial phase of project design. They have developed a nice simple design to meet the following criteria: create a contained and achievable water harvesting design that helps the regeneration of flora, stops erosion, acts as a fire break, provides emergency water supplies, and helps create an aesthetic focal point to the ridge. Other secondary functions of this kind of boradscale landscape design for water include climate change mitigation and increasing the resiliency and diversity of the local ecosystem. For an amazing treatment of the methods and possibility of water harvesting using earthworks check out Geoff Lawton's new DVD: Harvesting Water

Our preliminary design is simple and intended to be easily implementable during our weekend advanced Permaculture course in earthworks for water catchment. Secondary phases will be designed by the students and implemented at a later date.

The graphic below is a topographical map with our first phase design of contour ponds linked with swales around the North, East and South sides of the building site.


This design can be linked with other ponds and swale further up the ridgeline, and meets the clients primary needs that the project be contained, achievable and help with the energetic focus on the building site for the time being.

Our goal is to use this site as a model for soil conservation and restoration, and provide an educational opportunity in large scale permaculture design for interested students.
This project is part of an integrative design for eco-social regeneration that is being crafted by an alliance of individuals and organizations including Gaia University, the Ecovillage Training Center, The Cumberland Greens Bioregional Council, and the Center for Holistic Ecology.

Stay tuned for more on our design. I will be putting up all the information and design spcifications on www.nemawashi.org as it becomes available.