AG-02 · 01 Agriculture
Keyline water harvesting
A reading of the land that spreads water out of the valleys and into the ridges, so rain becomes fertility instead of erosion.
Origin
New South Wales, Australia — P.A. Yeomans
Materials
- Contour map or A-frame level
- Subsoiler or keyline plow, or a hoe and swale for small sites
- Perennial cover to lock the new pattern
Method
- 01
Walk the site after rain. Mark where water concentrates, where it scours, and the saddles between ridges — the 'keypoints'.
- 02
From each keypoint, mark a line that drifts slightly off contour toward the ridges. This is the keyline: water is invited out of the wet valley onto the dry shoulder.
- 03
Cut a shallow swale or rip along that line. Do not make a dam unless the geology and a hydrologist say so.
- 04
Plant the disturbed line immediately with deep-rooted perennials so the new pattern holds.
- 05
Watch the next three storms. Adjust overflows. The land will tell you if the line is greedy or generous.
What this makes possible
- Longer soil moisture after rain
- Less gullying in the valleys
- A water pattern that later plantings can follow
This is a field record, not a permit. Adapt to local law, climate and skill. If you have run this method, send what you learned.