Introductions to

As most readers know, planting the rain is becoming more and more important to mitigate extreme weather events. Water is the ultimate thermal mass, hence why deserts are cold at night and hot during the day. We know retaining the green is critical to lower daytime temperatures; like standing in a parking lot or on bare soil compared to standing in pasture, let alone under a tree, there's a vast difference—we can all feel that with our bodies.

There are many ways to do the repair work for water cycle restoration work in our local landscapes. For me, as a designer primarily working in the restoration of broad landscapes, I choose to use mostly two techniques: the well-known swale documented in Bill Mollison’s global gardener series, and the lesser-known terrace, adapted to become a water conduit. The terrace performs the same functions as a swale, but for me, it allows greater flexibility for the user. There is a catch, and I’d like to point out why, and why I choose to use both approaches in the work I do.

Why I chose to install a swale over a terrace? Is free-board, in earthworks language,

means the earthen bank above the high water mark. In swales, terraces, or dams, these structures all need free-board to survive a major rain event. Below is a clear example of a free-board: you can see water overflowing from the spillway and clearly see the mound above the water—that's your free-board.

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the swale