Hmm.. I like the diversion idea. I am definitely concerned about designing for high rain events. I am also allured by the designs of Sepp Holzer, which have similar grade slopes to mine. You can see his land by searching Google Earth for "Krameterhof - Josef Holzer". It is also viewable at this link: http://wiki.worldflicks.org/krameterhof.html He has over 60 small ponds on a mountainside in the Alps, which he uses to irrigate and to keep many kinds of fish. Attached is a closer aerial photo of a few of the ponds. Pretty amazing ideas that I would like to try and emulate, if they don't end up breaking the bank and also the dam.
