The Power of Water
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- To learn more, watch my 4-part Permaculture Masterclass series, here: www.discoverpe...
Good design will make the most of any situation. It can be used to mitigate any extreme. When it comes to water the question is… do you have enough? And if you have enough, the next question is… what happens if you get too much?
Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie in late March, early April of 2017 was the strongest tropical cyclone in the Australian region since Quang in 2015, and was the most dangerous cyclone to impact Queensland since Yasi in 2011. It affected much of New South Wales and Queensland and even as far away as New Zealand. Damage was estimated at $2.67 billion (2017 USD).
At Zaytuna Farm, The Channon NSW, during the climactic rain event, Debbie dumped 440mm of rain in 24 hours, and around 580mm of rain over the course of the event, which lasted approximately 36 hours. The volume of water flowing across the landscape on its passage to lower ground and ultimately the sea, just had to be seen to be believed. Fortunately, we captured it on film. What you are about to see is a testament to how design, good and bad, can make or break the landscape…
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About Geoff:
Geoff is a world-renowned permaculture consultant, designer and teacher. He has established permaculture demonstration sites that function as education centres in all the world’s major climates - information on the success of these systems is networked through the Permaculture Research Institute and the www.permaculturenews.org website.
About Permaculture:
Permaculture (en.wikipedia.o...) integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies - imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts and at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development.
#permaculture #flood #climate
I've lived in Australia long enough now to know that a "1 in 100 years" floods happen every 10 years or so.
All I can think of now I've learned about permaculture is that we could secure water from droughts for decades capturing all of that water and it gives me great hope for our future!
Permaculture design is amazing. I really need to learn this art form!
wax on...wax off
👍
They've only just finished repairing all the road damage from this flood. Definitely a wake up call.
Something tells me that the next one is less than 98 years away.
I know the flood affected many badly. However I bet this was an invaluable test for the land design concepts. Amazing information for future generations!
Turning problems into resources, now that’s sustainability
Geoff!! Please post more when u can👍🍻 love it!
It would be nice to see from above. Let the drones out!!!
Absolutely :-)
Thank you for the flood and after flood side by side pictures, it helps a lot to get a sense of the water level and impact on the land.
May your work and teaching spread like a positive productive pandemic into the lives of every person on this planet so that we all work WITH nature for a win win sustainable lifestyle everywhere we go.
If only we could have this course in every agricultural college across the world.
Geoff, such a wonderful video that shows the power of floodwaters-- and yet it doesn't have to be destructive! As a retired Hydrologist, I find these videos fascinating! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Sarah!
Amazing! It would be hard to believe it truly got as flooded as it did, without seeing the side by side images, because the damage is so minimal.
I think Geoff bought the farm in 2001 or 2002 so around 10 - 18 years to prepare for a "once in a century" (not really they will become more frequent) draught and also flood. If one has the resources for the earthwork, 5 years can make a huge difference in changing the soil and newly planted trees will build quite a root network in 5 years too, so they secure the soil.
I appreciate u so much for your work geoff, completely changed my life for the better
That’s amazing. We don’t even question monoculture most of the time, and yet look at the difference!
I saw it come over at the pump station at the corner of Woodlark and Molesworth St. We had 100mm of water across two-hectare above our yard it was stopped at our yard. Thanks, to your advice an implementing a plan to minimise the damage to our property a suburban block and the advice of Peter Andrews.
Wonderful example to the most important restorative concept for Australian landscape ecology: "Slow The Water"... kudos to you, Geoff... you OWN this!
man What a beautiful paradise you've grown Mr. Lawton is like Eden on earth and to think that I though I knew permaculture... amazing that anyone can learn to do all that... thanks for showing me that my dream can be made true buying a few hundreds hectares on a place with no trees but an acceptable weather for many different types of plants and trees and turn it into my own jungle in more than one place and leave that for few people to live there with their families and teach others to do the same even on a 1/4 acre land permaculture is what this world needs
Water can flow or water can crash.
But permaculture Pounds it, right? Nice to see you around here ;) I love your videos Pete! Last one is more than amazing. Great work, thank´s for sharing!
Renata MM that’s right! Thanks, good to see you also. Glad you enjoyed the last project :-) #dirt
"Be water, my friend."
Gustavo Barboza I love Bruce Lee 🙌
Do not stun let it flow
Geoff! precisely why we should design with permaculture,
precisely utilized historical example !
as a teacher the perfect way to witness,what you have saying all along is worth it.
I can see what you mean!
thank you... Geoff!
Truly that was a big rain event. Your design shows that even in this changing world where (in this area at least) we have longer drier periods broken by more intense rain events, we can plan for, mitigate, and design to work with these flows.
We have alot of flooding here in Pennsylvania and alot of damage because of bad design I wish I could come to Australia and learn hands on with you. Everything you do is aww inspiring thanks again Geoff.
ONLINE PDC.
Well done video. The point Geoff is making is absolutely clear. Thanks!
Even at the top of the flow, you can see that the water coming from his property was running clean, little dirt was being eroded, awesome work done.
With the previous vid about the drought and how several of your water storage ponds had been dry, the amount of water retained on your land reduces the flood downstream by an equal amount in addition to the water slowed down.
If every farmer in the drainage basin had comparable infrastructure, do you think flooding could have been drastically reduced?
for sure. and you would see springs pop up in places you would not expect.
Wow
That`s pretty much what Peter Andrews has said and proved. Top bloke. We only have a water problem because we have made all the rivers etc into drains. So we lose all the water,silt and productivity. Easily fixed problem, drought proofed country without building mega dams every where. Let nature do the work it is meant to.
The Same system that Netherlands use to prevent flood across the country
Just awesome. Only just discovered your channel, yet binge watching on a Sunday night here in UK.
Would not have found this channel if I had not been searching for Worm farm instruction. Found Geoff's brilliant starting a Worm farm, and have now watched the Urban Permaculture video and this. Absolutely fascinating 🤗😊
Trees will hold on to the soil when the flood comes, which helps a lot to cut down the flood damage
3:50 that hill with the macademia is too steep to let it unplanted. Even some deep rooting shrubs could have done a lot of good. Now they have lost the soil and the public purse has to pay for repairing the street underneath.
only days ago I watched your video comparing your neighbors dry farm and you basically predicted a good flood. I'm glad your Dams have been topped up Geoff!
This event was back in 2017.
CorwynGC haha oh yea look at the date on the weather report.
I wonder why Geoff visited the mudslide and damaged street up and close - the rain had stopped but that is not to say not more of the hill would come down sometimes the precarious layers need some time to get going - I would not have gone that close to the area of damage, he was wading in the slosh.
And I was worried about how fast he drove during the torrential rainfall (in the beginning) - although knowing that he did not get into an accident ;) Tires can lose traction easily wiith that much water on the tarmac, so that the tires start to slide of a layer of water, that risk grows exponentially with speed.
So in a heavy rain 50 - 60 km/h - and not more - would be in order. And if your tires are worn down, the risks also increase disproportionally.
.
They are in the habit of driving old cars in Australia, I wonder if they have mandatory yearly inspections (incl. the tires), in Europe for instance they have minimum profile requirements for tires for summer and demands are higher in the regions where they have freezing temps in winter (summer and winter tires have also different rubber compostion. One can technically drive a summer tire in winter if it is new and the profile still very good although it is not recommended. They have specialized tires for a reason, the rubber the profile patterns)
Very impressive work, Geoff.
Brad Lanceister (Planting the rain) talks about it that some people that use permaculture forget to design the backup for an overflow just in case of a massive rain event or when a pipe gets clogged. And that design mistake can go unpunished for many years, and all seems to be well - until it isn't. A drastic reminder about the "reserves in safety" and extra capacity that must be designed and built into the system.
Of course Geoff was lucky that the big event did not hit when he had just started the farm, and the soill had not yet recovered fully and the swales were new and the trees just starting to grow.
That is the only good thing about these so called once in a century events (that will become more frequent). You should always have a few years where you can prepare for the worst and plant trees. Soil in most cases recovers within 2 years and becomes much more absorbant if there are cover crops, or some mulching.
If all of Australia - where humans live - would be used according to regenerative principles that rain event could have been a blessing, recharging the water table with relatively little damage. All rain water tanks full, all back yards optimized to harvest wate ...
Not sure if that mass of water also hit inland .....
aww maaaan i feel like i missed out on the best dingy swale ride ever, and i cant even come back in 100 years, absolutely gutted no1 knoows my pain
100 yr storms are happening every few years now
@@a_peacefulwarrior aw lookout then lol
@@a_peacefulwarrior In QLD, during the period from Jan 1950 to Dec 1959 there were only 19 months during that 9 year period in which no significant flooding occurred somewhere in the state. Less than 2 years across that 9-year time frame that involved no flooding. ...The more the climate changes the more it remains the same especially when viewed from a long term perspective. The postmodernist mind seems to find the concept of variations in climate a thing that should not happen but I am being unfair, I think we will find that through thousands of years, the human mind catastrophises changes in climate. A thing those dastardly globalists would have observed and decided to take advantage of. www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/fld_history/floodsum_1950.shtml
@@deanpd3402 perhaps. Time will tell. Climate is changing... As it does.... I'm not sold that it's human influenced though, that's just what scientists are saying. Personally, I think they ignore the power of the sun and universe.
@@deanpd3402 From a practical point it does not matter though, even if you deny the reality of GLOBAL disruptive change triggered by warming (as opposed to local = Australian events in the 1950s): There can be extended times of rain that overwhelm the land if not farmed right - and I bet it was not more draught or flood proof in the 1950s than now. Even though globally big ag methods were introduced after WW2 and it got worse, smaller farms can also have destructive practices. See Dust Bowl sandstorms in the 1930s. The soil had been mismanaged for decades, the damage accumulated and when the wetter than usual cycle ended, the fertile thick prairie soil was eroded in drastic storms.
However extensive cattle ranching has not changed that much in the U.S. or Australia over the course of the last 100 years, nor the practice of overgrazing, and not planting trees.
Great opportunity to see where the water wants to go.
Loved this vid. Thank you so much for showing it.
wow.. thats heaps of water.
meanwhile in northern part of Malaysia
heatwave & drought hits
hi geoff
hope you guys survived the 2nd flooding
can you do a video of how your zone 1 has survived the recent catestrophic event.
and how your planning prevented that.
thanks
gary dorn
That's brilliant Geoff thank you so much for sharing. ..
So inspiring! Would it possible to see a 3D animation of how the water overflowed from your dams & was diverted to minimize damage?
2D we have as an animation 3D will take a little longer.
@@DiscoverPermaculture Thank you! Where can I find it? Managing floods is so tricky.
Amazing! Thanks.
Very informative.
that's mind-expanding
Geoff did you repair the damage above your land so it wont get destroyed again?
Amazing
During the same timeframe the midwest had "Dennis Quaid" levels of snowfall, and the resulting glacial melt flooded an area of several states.
Great Geoff! Has this still held true in this last deluge this week too?
Nice work!
Really amazing, thnx
Amazing results!
@GeoffLawton cool, but don't you have problems with mosquitoes in this still water? I think it's OK in pond, where you have fish, but in swales? OK, there could be some frogs or other creatures feeding on insect eggs and larvas, but is that enough?
A swale is a water infiltration, tree growing system. Normally water will infiltrate within 2 days. That is not enough for mosquitos. Plus the varied wild life (birds, toads, predatory insects) would keep them down. Maybe it took 3 days for the swales on the property of Geoff Lawton to have NO standing water after Debbie (400 mm water in 24 hours etc.). It is important not to have puddles for longer than 2 - 3 days (even small amounts of standing, STILL water suffice for mosquitos. Swales that are level help to avoid puddles.
Having absorbant soil in the swales is very important.
Moist soil (the desired outcome after 2 - 3 days) is not enough, the mosquito larvae need standing and calm water (without a lot of frogs, toads, fish or dragon flies or other predary insects) During a turbulent weather event they would not grow either - as long as the action lasts. Currents created by overflow, rain drops splattering, and wind moving the surface. So the 2 - 3 days start counting after most of the rain and the major motion in the temporary water body stopped (and there is no current because they move water to ponds and swales below.
The swales on Zaytuna farm are dry, leaf covered paths throughout most of the year. But nearby a lot of toads and other amphibia can live anyway, there is always moisture under the mulch.
It is important that the soil in the swales supports infiltration - it must not be compacted.
A mature swale can be grazed even by cattle and be used as path (even with wheelbarrows, maybe even smaller vehicles), but it is important that they do not compact the soil when using it, and giving new swales time to become established before putting some stress on them. One can grow trees IN the swale or at the edge of it (in Zaytuna the swales remain paths, the trees are planted outside at the edges, on the berms). The trees nearby / in the swales also help with distributing the standing water fast.
Maybe absorption time was one day longer after the extreme zyklone Debbie (I doubt it, because I am sure the underground is able to absorb the water quickly. During Debbie they had major surface runoff but no erosion, and what was caught by the swales was soaked in as usual. They were not more or less full than during other good rains, and no erosion prevented good infiltration).
But there could be regions / properties where the underground is less permeable: clay soils - in which case they also have to be much more cautious with increasing ! water infiltration. The authorities are quite pesky with the rules for harvesting water, dams etc. they do have some tricky soils and undergrounds, it is not only bureaucraZy.
Oversaturated soil can form a layer of water that could prompt a mud slide. Gradient, amount of water that is added to be held for a time IN the soil, robust spillways, emergency spills and how well the area is secured by deep rooting trees, ... all of that plays a role. In Australia they have soils where tiny clay particles separate as soon as the soil becomes wet, so there could be very unexpected effects. So there the authorities watch closely what farmers do with earthwork and water installations.
A swale that is perfectly safe in other regions might fail with that soil.
I love this videos ❤️
Wild! Is that at Zaytuna farm, Geoff?
Yes, Zaytuna during Cyclone Debbie in 2017
Отличное видео .👍 Но не хватает русских субтитров . Просьба нужен русский перевод .👍
Compelling
WE send down rain from the sky in perfect measure, causing it to soak into the earth. & WE are surely able to take it away. With it WE produce 4u gardens of palm trees & grapevines, in which there are abundant fruits, & from which you may eat,as well as ˹olive˺ trees which grow at Mount Sinai, providing oil & a condiment to eat. (al Mukminuun 23:18-20)
Ha ha macademia monoculture, that one is good. 👍
👍🌳
❤
No se ingles pero...me pueden ayudar con la tarea?:"""D
I love macadamia nuts!
you can also say that immigrants doesnt cause any problems but only accumulates more and more jobs for the people, like police