Water harvesting - Swales

[Vortex]

Laying out contour is easy with an A-Frame ..
Usage:
1) place aframe down .. move one leg around until you find both legs are on
equal evaluation ground, the legs are level.
2) place a stake at one leg
3) like a compass you draw circles with, swivel one leg around until you
find a level spot. Stake that leg, repeat.

YouTube - Permaculture techniques , les bassières

A swale is not a berm. A swale is intended to capture water
and allow it time to slowly soak into the surrounding soil.

A berm is created using earth from another location.

A swale is a berm built using earth at the location of the berm,
from the up slope side which is deposited on the down slope side
of the trench. The trench can be filled with mulch, green mulch,
use as a composting area or left empty.
Permaculture Stock Feed Swale System

Take a 30' long x 3' wide x 1' deep swale, which is able to hold 673 gallons.
A 1" rain would directly rain 56 gallons into the trench.
A 30' x 30' roof would have a run off of 561 gallons that ends up in the swale?
Your swale is full. Yes, it's great to have rain barrels, but look at the
amount of water you do not capture.

Swales - more in depth details

[Stealth]

water reserve

This is a good way of capturing and holding water. I have an even bigger reserve, it's called a swimming pool. Chlorinated and filtered water of 10,000 gallons. Another way is air wells or dew ponds. You can search and find information on each of these systems. Good Luck..Stealth