Water is Life
As featured in the Hunter Organic Growers Society Newsletter - March 2023.
Water is life. Limestone Permaculture legend Brett Cooper makes sure that these words are well understood by his students. We know that without water, the best of our plans will not come to fruition, so with a little consideration of the principles of permaculture, we can ensure our garden is flourishing, and able to be resilient when necessary.
Water’s components, hydrogen and oxygen are among the most abundant in the universe, and indeed water, in all its forms, can be found all around us on farms, and in backyards throughout the seasons. For the past couple of years, many of us have probably been on the side of having too much of it around, though the summer months have reminded us how quickly this precious resource dries up. The best approach, is a plan that responds to both droughts and flooding rains.
The first step in permaculture-principled water management is to observe. This can be in the form of rainfall records, roof catchment calculations, storage, recycling, identifying drainage problems, boggy spots, the list goes on, and is followed by the need to assess. To collate information, to look for patterns in the conditions, determine impact, consider your climate, and the needs of the living parts of the system. This step might well involve some learning. Building an understanding of water harvesting and management systems, from tanks, to swales, dams and pumps. From here, we can begin to interact with intention, and a sound understanding of our context, to complement our intuition.
Our planning, and interaction, always begins with patterns, and moves to details. Like all patterns of energy on our property, we are trying to maximise the potential of water as it moves through the landscape. Trapping it indefinitely, or moving water on too quickly, are often examples where someone’s solution has become a problem. Instead, we try to slow, sink, spread, and store water.
The first objective is to retain water in the soil of the landscape. Slow, sink, spread. Without human intervention, water is banked in the ground - not tanks. Ideally, we create a regenerative, soil-building system that, over time, turns the property into a sponge. Think of the soil in a rainforest - and its water holding properties. At a details level, this could look like huglekultur mounds, check dams, contoured swales, tree-belts, beds deep in organic matter - all ways to slow, sink and spread water in landscapes depending on the size and setting. The role of plants is key here - a biological solution for modulating water speed and volume.
The second objective is storage. Remember, naturally occurring in the ground. We can store water at the surface of our property in bird baths, ponds, and dams. Some my have access to a bore, and must consider the ecological implications of this movement of water. Commonly though, households require water to be stored in tanks for daily use. This can become critical in drought, heatwave, and bushfire conditions, though it is wise to remember that every drop tanked, is one less drop in the soil, and thus not accessible to the biology there. Water is life, but life also creates life, so we must act in harmony with both.
If you are on ‘town water’, know your supply. Understand the system, its qualities, and vulnerabilities. For many of us, the water restrictions of 2019 are still in the back of our mind. Plan for resilience, with multiple strategies for slowing, sinking, spreading, and storing water, so you are prepared for thick and thin. Every hard space is an opportunity for both water harvesting, and diversion, to be used now or later.
I would love to continue on with the beneficial role of a variety of water sources in your system, but it will have to come another day. Then there’s preferred methods - irrigation systems, hand watering, timers, and more.
To finish with a practical assignment, make a little map of the garden and note where your water access points are. How do these fit with your daily routine? Stack the advantageous location of taps with your daily movements and it’s a recipe for watering success.
Maplewood Permaculture Farm,
February 2023