A look at what they are doing on a farm in Pennsylvania to retain topsoil and prevent fertilizers, animal waste and pesticides from getting into streams and ending up in Chesapeake Bay.
Some features looked at: swales, creating a non-cultivated space near streams, using vegetation as a buffer…
Michael Gladnick and Deborah Seif talk about using vegetative swales to control and direct stormwater and to filter out particles. They are looking at a commercial or academic property not being used for food production, but the principles would be the same for productive land.
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Loren Luyendyk from Santa Barbara Organics talks about water.
Topics:
– How you can use swales to redirect water on your property and also to encourage water that might otherwise flow away, taking topsoil with it to sink into the soil.
– Mulching to help retain water in the soil.
– Collecting rain water and storing it in tanks, in plants on your land and in manmade ponds
– Greywater – Use water more than once. Really easy set-ups and more complicated ones.
– Blackwater (sewage) – Treating the sewage with vegetation. Gives a reed bed example,
– Flowforms to oxygenate water
Introduction to Permaculture Part 2: Water from sbpermaculture on Vimeo.
The Real Know How 