How do our wells get water?
The water that falls on our ground recharges our wells. Not just someone’s way downslope, but our own wells, and possibly our nearby neighbors’. We can actually take charge of the water that falls on our land and get it into our wells.
I learned this from Evelyn Soltero, a local geoscientist who helps people with their well systems and groundwater management. She explained to me how the rock below our soils, here in Nevada County, is a fractured rock, with many disconnected aquifers going in all directions.
When rain falls on our land the water soaks into the soil and eventually seeps deeper into the fractured rock pockets. Our wells tap into those pockets.
How we manage our land and soil affects how much rainfall gets into those aquifers where our wells are. I’ll describe some ways that are best for that. Because when the next drought comes around, it can help your well make it through the hot summers.
Work with your land to improve water absorption
Paved surfaces let no water through and can even funnel it off your property. Whenever possible, choose more water permeable surfaces such as gravels, wood chips, or decomposed granite for walkways or patios. Even brick or rock with spaces between helps soak in more water for your plants and your well.
Soil compaction prevents water from sinking into the soil. Evelyn said she noticed a lot of compaction happening from where her horse walked around a lot. As one who strives to maximize water infiltration, she mitigated the problem with heavy layers of straw on the ground to slow runoff and build topsoil.
There are certain sites that are more geologically receptive to rainwater and are key infiltration sites. These key sites get the most rainfall directly into the fractured rock pockets—recharging the aquifers.
It’s important to keep these key infiltration sites uncovered. When we pave or build over them, far less water gets into those fractured rock pockets. Instead, rainfall runs off and gets channeled to the nearest waterway.
Evelyn is able to locate key infiltration sites on your property to help you decide where to build or pave, and if they’re already blocked, how to mitigate the problem. Her company is All About Wells, and her website is invitewatertostay.com.
Catch the rainfall: “slow it, spread it, sink it”
Follow this popular mantra. There are several ways to do this. And I’ll present some amazing and inspiring stories of how people around the world have captured rainfall and turned destitute, dry land into lush, productive farms and sanctuaries.
Adding texture to the surface soil slows the flow of rainfall. This gives it more time to soak into the soil. One way is to add mulch to the soil surface. Wood chips are great, as are straw, compost, and other forms of organic matter. Plus, a soil rich in organic matter is more receptive to water due to its texture and its porosity. Even gravel slows the rainfall.
Plants are one of the best ways to slow, spread, and sink rainfall. Water follows roots which carries it deeply into the soil.
Of course, heavy rain events can quickly overwhelm the ability to slow the water, but slowing it is the first step. The next way is to include structures that spread out the flow of water to give it time to sink in.
Spread it and sink it
A swale is a depression in the soil that runs along a contour of a gentle slope. You just dig it. It allows more time for runoff to sink in. When it fills and runs off, dig some more swales below to catch, spread, and sink that water, too. They don’t have to be very long.
Rain gardens are a form of a swale. These are depressions below a downspout. Use plants that tolerate flooding in the depression: e.g. common rush and Clustered field sedge (look up in Calscape.org). Surround them with attractive flowering plants that can tap into the increased soil moisture long into the dry season. If the rain garden is quickly overwhelmed with water, consider a series of them to hold and sink the overflow.
Check dams, of any size, hold the water back to pool up and sink in. You can make these structures from rocks, earth, or even reeds or willow branches. Their purpose is to catch some water, not necessarily all, and to spread it out to sink in.
Think of a beaver dam and the pond it creates. Beaver dam ponds play a tremendous role in recharging ground water. They slow water to sink it and prevent erosion along the sides of a waterway.
The best way to locate where water flows over the surface of your land is to go out in a rainstorm and watch. This can show you where you can slow it or catch the flow with a swale or a structure
Lots of information on how to build and work with check dams and swales can be found in the book Rainwater Harvesting for Dryland and Beyond* by Brad Lancaster. He has many You Tube videos to watch, too! Look him up.
Here are some very inspiring stories of people who have worked to capture water to sink it into the ground and created amazing results.
Parched, poor land in Zimbabwe becomes a highly productive farm
Mr. Phiri in Zimbabwe had to move his young family onto a parched piece of land. It was the practice then, as it is all over the world, to channel water away to prevent flooding. This was leaving local wells exceedingly dry and vulnerable to drought, and the farming poor.
This amazing man realized that if he captured the rain, however little it was, and allowed it to sink in, he could get the rainwater into the soil and into the rock below. He set about studying his land, where the water traveled, and built earthen structures that would hold back water during rainstorms allowing it to sink into the soil. He combined these activities with planting trees and other plants, especially food plants, which helped slow the water and sink it.
His land received very little rainfall. Sometimes only one day during the three month wet season. But with his water harvesting strategies he ended up with an abundance of water and a highly productive farm that supported his growing family. And it earned him a reputation as the “Water Harvester.”
For a happy and inspiring story look up Mr. Phiri for YouTube videos about his methods. Look for “The Rainwater Harvester.”
Parched, overgrazed land in Texas becomes a water- and wildlife-rich oasis
Another example is David Bamberger, who set out to buy the driest, most overgrazed piece of land he could find in Texas. And he got to work transforming it.
His method was to plant the native grasses that survive on that land. Remember, roots help the water to sink in deeper. And grasses have abundant, long roots.
His limestone bedrock is full of large open spaces. When he started, the spaces were dry. After a few years of grass growth, water once again filled those open spaces in the rock and soon oozed out into natural springs, replenishing ponds and waterways that had long dried. Now the land supports abundant wildlife.
Go to YouTube and watch the beautiful and inspiring film: “Selah: Water From Stone.”
And in India
Another great story takes place in India where a poor, dry village worked to capture rainwater and resulted in water abundance, greater farming, and wealth. Also on YouTube, see “The Miracle Water Village.”
All these strategies can work greatly to capture the rainfall on your property.
Take charge of the water that falls on your land to help your well. This can help you weather the inevitable droughts and high rain events that will be coming our way.