Our Swaleure

My dad and I have spent many hours on this project. Every failure is just progress towards success, and boy are we going to be successful on this one!

When we installed our new pool (full post to come later when it’s completed,) we (my father) knew we were creating a drainage problem because the north side of our yard collects all the runoff water from our neighbors to the north. We leveled about 3000 ft.² of land, off of which water used to slowly drain down towards our pasture. 

Dad recognized that we were going to have an issue with the runoff and insisted (against my frugal tendencies)on building a dry river bed complete with a pond liner and a lot of rock$ to channel that runoff. Since agreeing to the project, we have spent hours digging and grading and building a rock bed to accommodate the frequent deluge of rain that we get in the spring and winter months. Yesterday that swale, which is yet uncompleted, was put to the test and grossly failed. Now mind you, it is not complete, so portions of the failure I attribute to that, other portions I have to attribute to bad execution on my part, and some of it is the absurd amount of rain we got in a very short time which we will never be able to completely accommodate.

Swale Before the Storm

Swale During the Storm

I can’t say that it’s back to the drawing board, but we do have some work to do, including digging all the mud out on the sides that collapsed. 

The plan is to reinforce the sides, add an additional collection area at the top of the swale (see last photo) to allow some of that rainwater to collect and then trickle down into the river bed. I will also add some height to the bed adjacent to it so that the water stays in the channel instead of breaching the banks (first photo above on the left.)

Also need to give a nod to my dad here - he is amazing at anticipating these things, and boy am I grateful…

Wish me luck!