This Simple Structure Rebuilds High Desert Streams

You're looking at quite a rare event here. This wash, usually dry, it's got a pretty decent flow after a couple major rains that we've had the past few weeks. So I want to show you the work that's been going into transforming this wash and being able to stop, slow, and soak more of that water coming down this channel. What's growing on everyone? I'm Brandon and this is the Greening the Desert Project. Today we're going to get to see some hard work put to the test. Now we had quite a slow start to the monsoon season and it was almost looking like that we weren't going to really get hardly any rain or no rain at all for the whole season. But luckily, better late than never, we actually did start getting the rains towards the end of August and then we've kind of had sporadic hit or miss storms since then. But it's actually within the last couple weeks that we had some heavier downpours of rain and with the heavy rainstorms coming down, I was actually privileged enough to make it down to our wash area and see the flow that was going in this channel. So today I want to take a walk down the wash and show you the how and why of where I've placed a lot of these different check dams and a little bit of the understanding of the process of how we're working this whole system here. Which this gives us another great simple method for slowing and stopping and soaking more rainwater. So you'll be able to see that before we've done a few of these structures at least, we've got a lot of these really deep carved out channels which are basically just these highways of erosion. So we get a lot of fast moving water that's tearing out the banks and then we can see a lot of the bigger chunks of rocks and just all the rocks that have fallen into this channel in general too that are also helping to stop and And we can really see how sporadic this channel actually is because we've got trees growing within the channel itself but at the same time we can see how much actually washes away and doesn't really give a lot of chance for other vegetation to grow. So we can see the sporadic little patches of grass and other things along the banks but also inside the channel. So the goals with building these check dams are actually pretty simple but really vital in our goals for greening the desert here. So this was all me, I did all this check damming. So I had moved a lot of these rocks and then also right here I check dammed as well. And so with these structures we're actually slowing the flow or reducing the water's velocity and kind of its destructive energy. And see here I've also check dammed. We can see kind of this terrace to this next check dam that I did. So I have been doing a lot of check damming in this wash. It's just not on the big major scale with huge machines like everybody's thinking. So we're only doing what we can at least but we're still slowing and stopping water, collecting sediment, and creating a nice zen zone of water and waterfall features. But then like I said before we're actually getting with these structures more silt deposits and sediment buildup. And so this in a sense is helping force the water to stop. All of a sudden we're getting more of the sediment, more of the rocks, everything to start building up and creating more of a terrace. Which basically raises the bed level inside of the channel here. So over time as we continue to stack rocks and build up the sediment we're creating this nice level platform that actually ends up matching with the surrounding landscape. So it's not so much of a channel anymore as it is just a small indentation that allows for better sheet flow spread. Which basically equates to increased water infiltration which is definitely something that we want right. So being able to hold water long enough to be able to recharge the area and get a little bit more of the capillary effect in the surrounding area to help water the vegetation. So the success of a check dam is for the most part about placement. Definitely want to build it correctly but the placement is kind of a crucial element in effective silt and sediment catchment. But then also so we're not just creating redundancy or just creating extra work. So there's a few different strategies that we can go about building these check dams. So I'll kind of discuss how I've kind of laid everything out. So placement is key when we're building these little structures up here. So this spot is ideal for where I've started building this check dam because it already had started with a lot of these really big boulders that I can't move at all. So building things on a solid base to begin with and just working with the surrounding area as well. So with this we've already started with a bunch of big rocks for this base layer and now all we've had to do is fill in all of these rocks in between the big rocks. So it makes it easier to build but then we also have a way more solid foundation here for building up and then also capturing sediment and not having the water blow out the check dam itself. Keying into the bank is also super essential and what I mean by keying into the bank is basically stacking the rocks higher up onto the bank side. So this also depends on our own personal goals and what we're trying to do with this water. And since we're only trying to slow the water channel down slightly and build up the sediment and the layers, we're going to key up on both sides of the bank and we'll actually allow a slightly lower opening within the check dam to let the overspill to allow a spillway for the water overflow. Keying into the side bank when we're building these bigger rock check dams is super essential because if we're trying to hold back the water we really don't want the water to come up on the side of the bank and actually start making a new channel. But we actually want the water to flow over the rocks a lot more evenly and spread. So that's where keying into the banks and making sure that building these banks up so that these are sturdy and containing the water is going to be super essential. So we'll have both sides keyed in on the banks and then that gives us potential for being able to harvest this water later as we build up the check dam itself too. So not just placement and keying into the side banks is essential for creating our check dams, but also the staggering or the spacing of where we're placing these. Because we don't want necessarily to add a lot more work and we also don't want to add redundancy but that also depends on our own goals with how we're doing these check dams. But for our goals we're going to have these spaced out in a way that you can see behind me we've got a check dam back here and then I'm sitting on this second check dam. So in this scenario we're looking at the top of this check dam that I'm sitting on is going to be level with the bottom of the check dam behind me. So that's how we're going to stagger things out and because we have points in this channel that are a lot more level we're going to have the check dam spaced out a whole lot farther because we just need to think about how the water is going to raise up and then fill that area in with sediment at the same time. And this just makes for easier planning and staggering and potentially less work I think overall too. And we also just have the benefit that we have rocks everywhere in this channel. So we have rocks on either side of the bank here to be able to use and gives us a little bit better options on where we're able to put check dams. So you can see that we're not just necessarily throwing rocks down and seeing how everything works. Just for my personal way of building things at least I want to make sure a lot of these rocks are actually snug and kind of hunkered in because there's a lot of power in the water flow that comes down this channel. So I'm not necessarily picky about the rocks because we've just got rocks everywhere. So I'm just grabbing whatever rocks just to stack in here but then we're taking smaller rocks to be able to try and stuff into the little cracks and crevices that do remain. Because in the end we want the water to be stopped and slowed down but we do want the water to rise up and evenly spread and flow over the rocks compared to the hard deep channel that it's used to making. So this is the best part after coming to these check dams after two years. At least some of the older ones that I built in the very beginning we can actually see compared to where I'm standing that we've already built up over a foot of sediment or soil kind of you could think in this check dam itself. So now we've really been able to get the water to slow and soak in and then drop all of that sediment into this area. So we'll eventually start getting a lot more vegetation growing but in the meantime we'll actually give water to the surrounding pinyon pines that we have in the area and some of the junipers. I know how much everybody likes those junipers. So not only with the sediment deposit and slowing the water we actually do have the potential in this channel to be able to lay down rubber liners or potentially bentonite clay or some just straight clay to clog some of the pores in the cracks in the rocks but to be able to create our own water holding ponds might be an ideal goal that we hopefully could afford in the future here. So just remember you can join our Green Guardians YouTube or Patreon membership to support the Greening the Desert project. So I'd say so far our check dams have been a pretty massive success seeing in the sediment deposits but also taking the just brutal eroding force of this wash and now slowly starting to regenerate it and get more even water flow as it once used to but also contributing to building a lot more healthy soil and helping to regenerate a lot more of the native vegetation around here. Now this wash is going to be a work over time and you can see over the two years the little bits of rock stacking that I've done here and there has actually yielded some really excellent results that I'll be able to continuously work on throughout the years here and we'll slowly see the results over time of the continuation of these check dams in the wash. And further building off of the rocks we actually have our Zuni Bowls one of my favorite earthworks. So the Zuni Bowl does essentially the same concept but on flatter ground where we're capturing the water we're slowing it in this pocket we're letting it soak more into the ground or we're at least getting more water to soak into the ground and then with the rocks it's able to capture organic material and the sediment and then essentially is building up the soil within and in between the rocks to allow more vegetation to start growing and be watered more adequately too. We actually can put a check dam in the form of a contour line across our landscape because there's the abundance of rocks in this area so now we can create a line that's on level and know that all the water is going to be stopped and slowed on this spot and help promote more vegetation growth and as the sediment builds up too over time we can slowly stack more and more rocks to build up the levels of it and build up the sediment layers. And just as I was talking about earlier with the placement being a very essential piece to the check dams it's also the same for all the other rainwater harvesting structures we have. Placement is going to be the absolute fundamental key to the effectiveness of any of the earthworks we do. But that's the big thing with these earthworks is the diversity and the uniqueness that each tool so to speak possesses and even though some of these rainwater harvesting tools do apply in a lot of other spots on landscapes we actually can dial in and create more diversity and just make things a little more aesthetically pleasing on our landscape by doing multiple different kinds of earthworks. But that's what makes all these rainwater harvesting structures tools in our toolbox to be able to use where they're deemed necessary. But then it also gives us options because all these structures have redundancy to them in the sense that they're all doing the same thing capturing water slowing and stopping it capturing sediment and allowing vegetation to grow while building soil. And so I do want to show the examples on our landscape the diversity of these rainwater harvesting tools and the effectiveness that each one brings to the table. And it's with the combined effectiveness of all these different tools and practices that we're doing here that are essentially going to help rejuvenate and change this landscape. So I'll be doing a lot more of these different rock works along our northern portion of our property because we can find the abundance of these rocks and quite frankly we actually have the best infiltration of water in this area. So we have a lot of water that's able to penetrate into the ground and we have very limited sheet flow. That's where I'll be doing a lot more check dams and one rock sheet flow spreaders and a few other different techniques that we'll be getting into that we'll be getting into in future videos. Well since I was talking about the sheet flow spreaders rain turning the desert to fertile land again with every drop saved a new life takes hold a story of strength more precious than gold we're digging in deep where the water flows free building a future for you and for me