Beautiful site, Andy. Gets the same annual rainfall as Abilene, Texas.
Thank you. I will look up Abilene, however the climate analogue for this specific region is very different. Elevation sits at about 950metre above sea level. Once we get the ecology in order I think it will turn into a lush paradise. This was forested area a century ago.
Next thing I would do is pothole in the middle of the pond sites and get the soil analyzed. It would be great if there is high clay content in the soil at and just below the proposed bottom of the pond(s).
I did the good old bottle test. There is not a lot of clay on this site, however there are area's very close by that we can get when we want to seal these. There's a lot of rock/gravel and literally the neighbouring plot is a granite quarrying operation that they abandoned due unsatisfactory quality.
There doesn't seem to be significant erosion and you've got ample fall across the site. Looks like it may have been a tad overgrazed in the past?
Not drastic erosion per se, however definitely have had the land form change over the years from what I can see in the surrounding areas. Overgrazed like maggots eating flesh off a bone. This is a relatively poor and backward area with subsistence farming so the property was the hotspot for villagers grazing goats and cows.
Sure is. The region had its worst drought in 140 years and has been progressively drought hit the last decade. However this month alone there was flash rains bringing in about 10inches of rain. If we do this right then every now and then with these large events the swales with planting should infiltrate enough into the aquifer and these ponds/dams should be able to capture overflow.
There is also a small hillock behind the highest point of the property and I plan on grading the road and boundary to feed all that runoff into the first swales. Huge opportunity thats why I'd rather overdo the ponds/tanks sizing for these erratic spikes of rain.
Expect more pics as I'm off to the site tomorrow morning!
