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Water

Water decides what survives. The goal is to keep rain on the land long enough for plants and soil to use it, rather than letting it run off with the topsoil. Healthy soil is itself the biggest reservoir you have.

Non-negotiables​

  • Match plants to the water actually available, especially in summer.
  • Slow, spread, and sink runoff; keep water on site.
  • Respect water rights and quality; plan for the dry season before planting.

Options & pathways​

  • Earthworks (swales, keyline, ponds) — slow and sink runoff, recharge groundwater, feed streams; needs design and earth-moving.
  • Rainwater harvesting and storage — reliable water for establishment and living; tanks cost money and upkeep. Harvesting methods keep improving, including biomimetic designs drawn from desert animals (lizard-inspired water harvesting, news).
  • Soil as reservoir — always, alongside the rest; organic matter and cover hold water in the ground.
  • Drought-adapted design — in Mediterranean and drying climates; fewer losses, narrower species choice. Scarcity is increasingly managed at community level (Algarve communities and water, news).

A storage pond can buffer irrigation through the dry season, but open water loses a lot to evaporation in summer. Shading it helps, and floating solar does that while adding power (floating solar over water, news). Strips of deep-rooted perennials inside cropland hold rain where it falls (perennial buffer strips, study).

Where peat or wetland is present, rewetting stores both water and carbon and is worth protecting (peat restoration, news; restoring peat for carbon and flood control, news).