How This Woman Turned Arizona's Desert into a Farmland Oasis

Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. This climate has meant the region has been a hub for agricultural growth for thousands of years despite the fact rainfall has always been relatively low. It's Arizona's rivers and aquifers that hold groundwater which have supported the state’s now $23 billion agriculture industry. In terms of revenue generated, Arizona's top five agricultural products are cattle, calves, lettuce, dairy products, cotton, and hay. In total, farmland makes up about 35% of the state of Arizona. Farming in the desert has been a challenge for Arizona’s modern farmers, who grow water-intensive crops like cotton, alfalfa and corn for cows. It's estimated that these farms use nearly three-quarters of the available water supply to irrigate their crops.
The Colorado River system, which supplies 36 percent of Arizona's total water use has experienced extensive drought conditions for the past 19 years. This has resulted in Lake Mead dropping to historically low reservoir levels. More than one-third of Arizona’s water flows up the Colorado River to Lake Mead. This year an intensifying drought and declining reservoir levels across the Western United States has prompted the first-ever water supply cuts to Arizona farmers.
Extensive droughts and dwindling water supplies have wreaked havoc on the once prosperous farms that could endure the arid conditions. Arizona has also become one the fastest growing states in the last decade, as result there has been a demand for tree lined neighborhoods, golf courses and lawns, all of which require vast amounts of water. As we keep consuming the ancient groundwater, without it being replenished, water tables drop and rivers start to dry up.
However over the last 30 years Arizona has been turning this around, in this video we will show you how a low cost innovative water retention system is being used in the desert, turning the dry landscape into a fertile carbon sink stretching over 100,000 acres and we will show you how this system is recharging the aquifers, by improving water retention by at least 28% which has helped to increase biodiversity, turning the desert back into a farmland oasis. Thanks to Valer Clark Austin and Josiah Austin restoring the watershed in the Chiricahua Desert in Arizona and Mexico.
You can find out more by visiting www.cuencalosojos.org
Curtesy of USGS: • Can rock dams reverse ...
Curtesy of John Kurc: www.daxwax.com
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#greeningthedesert

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

🔔 Subscribe to youtube.com/@LeafofLifeMusicOfficial 🌳 Support our projects to restore degraded land and regenerate natural ecosystems: www.leafoflife.news/ 🎥 Support our video work, helping us to improve our videos, upgrade our equipment & share more informative videos like this one here: www.patreon.com/leafoflifefilms The results of restoring a watershed are astonishing!!! 💦🌿 What do you think, do we need more of this? Find out more about Dr Norman's research for USGC in this video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWPXinxtn7qXi5I

[@gregmower7605]

I think that the rock dams are a good idea to create pools and planting trees would create a starter habitat to introduce beavers. Nature’s engineers would increase water detention and retention thereby creating even more habitat.

[@yepwhocares3541]

Just the beginning. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYSne2ueadSKrrs

[@ULlisting]

This is wonderful and should be extended to the entire state. Similar water harvesting techniques are being used in India, Australia, Ethiopia and other parts of the world. With the planet drying up, water will only become more valuable.

[@PabloPerez-cn5hw]

NAWAPA

[@c.d.porter9366]

What is astonishing is that you are not concerned about feeding people but rather habitat organization. You do know that the groceries you buy in the store come from agriculture/farming...I guess.

[@mrow7598]

There was a bunch of farms in Australia who ripped out trees and shrubs because it was believed that they just sucked up all the water. The land got drier as a result. One farmer went against the trend and put all those trees and shrubs back in and his farm flourished. The government was trying to force him to rip up all the plants he planted because they believed they knew better. Other farmers looked at his farm and started doing the same thing and their farms flourished too. Only until the government sold the land out from under him for a strip mine did the farmer fail.

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Omg I thought this is such a positive story only to see an unhappy ending 😢

[@VK-qo1gm]

Peter Andrews

[@mr.hemlock1900]

Government knows best. Obviously

[@prestoneage]

*Armored Tractor enters the chat*

[@b_uppy]

Peter Andrews was brilliant in his approach.

[@GeorgiaAlbert]

To make a desert bloom is to add water. Here in the United State of Nevada,. a desert State, we have a species of Beaver, an aquatic mammal that build dams. Nevada's Beavers build dams in streams that had regularly dried up in the dry season, and they transform the area into a lush desert oasis with trees and sweet water flowing year round. Maybe our Beavers can transform the dried up streams in Austrailia, China, Mongolia, and the Sahara to help reverse desertification. Beaver ponds sustain fish, wildlife, and can provide irrigation water. and water for livestock. The Beaver dams slow the water flow so the water can be absorbed by the land. Beavers work for no wages. They will build you fantastic dams, plus do all the maintenance, and all you have to do is keep the Beaver safe and happy.

[@GeorgiaAlbert]

This post was made over 2 years ago at an Australian site, and a couple of sites in the Americas.

[@HannahRoot55]

@@GeorgiaAlbert hi 👋

[@messagesystem333]

Chinese would just eat them.

[@Eurydice870]

You need to do more reseach. Land regeneration is a global movement. The United States is behind, our farming practixes and processed foods are toxic. The extermination of beaver caused the Dust Bowl, today's tragedy came to the Americas with Europeans.

[@txDDS]

Kung Pow Beaver. Fyi, As a Canadian, and therefore a beaver expert, I can safely say that beavers don't dig the desert.

[@evilchaperone]

Absolutely beautiful native American farming practices. The corn provide a stalk for the beans. The beans provided nitrogen to the soil, and the squash provided ground cover for the soil. That's coming back into practice in large commercial farms. Laying two crops at the same time. One for ground cover and one for an addional crop. That way you can get twice the yield with the same amount of water, fuel and fertilizer. The natives had that down to a science hundreds of years ago.

[@JosephOntime]

@Robocrop extinct?

[@MrVillabolo]

This is known as the 'Three Sisters' arrangement. I had a three-sister garden located in Southern California during summer. The corn did well; the beans were an absolute failure; the squash did pretty good. I don't know how it could be commercial though. Each plant requires a distinct method of harvesting. You can't just run a combine over three distinct crops mingled together in one area. It's all done by hand.

[@evilchaperone]

@@MrVillabolo I saw a video of a farmer in Michigan or Minnesota. It's called "multicropping".

[@SWEAR2CARE]

@Robocrop pull back your shoulders and look up dammit. because.WHERE YOU IS WHERE YOU GO.

[@lampyrisnoctiluca9904]

yeah, the three sisters! i even heard that in some communities there were 4 sisters, with the fourth plant being an insect repellent to protect the other 3 from being eaten.

[@alanm6454]

I am in awe of these people who have the vision, the patience and the tenacity to see a project like this through to fruition. The world, in general, should listen and take note as a lot of our self made problems could be resolved without conflict or high cost. Absolutely brilliant.

[@dZorroIII]

Thats how you know the conflict and confusion is engineered by design. We can advance so many things. We can stop the world for the sniffles. Yet they cant get these basic old lessons together. Anything that would truly free and empower you, they bury, dismiss, deflect and hide. Your misfortune keeps them employed.

[@berndtherrenvolk1951]

@@dZorroIIIWell . . . SOME-body has to tax away your money and life.

[@ainabearfarm8075]

Glad to see people like this being celebrated and respect being given to the ancient wisdom of indigenous peoples. The way forward is looking back. 🤙

[@cliffterrell4876]

It's bullshit. The acreage doesn't add up.

[@atomictraveller]

you understand this is total bullshit. it starts with "southern arizona" and shows northern arizona. the ground water in arizona is disappearing faster than shit. you move here to farm, you will go broke.

[@ainabearfarm8075]

@@atomictraveller using stock footage for videos like this is pretty typical and in this case I don’t think it detracts from the point. Nor is the point to convince people to move to Arizona to farm. Rather, this just simply celebrates people who already live there trying to do something good for the ecosystem and it uses a little flash to get people to tune in. They may be exaggerating the outcome, but this doesn’t erase the good that people are trying to accomplish. There’s already enough bad news in the world; I don’t think we need to bash the little good we get. The big hope is that more people will be inspired to join these more thoughtful practices of stewardship.

[@atomictraveller]

@@ainabearfarm8075 you understand the positives, but i don't think you are aware of the state of the negatives. read the local stories.

[@ainabearfarm8075]

@@atomictraveller I certainly understand the negatives; we are bombarded with news about them nonstop. It’s also pretty easy to understand how decades of unsustainable practices would lead to dire circumstances. It’s just a matter of how you choose to deal with it. You can constantly point out how screwed we are or you can get to work trying to make it better. You can do both, I’m just saying the former already has a lot of coverage so why not celebrate the people trying to do better and those who want to share their stories?

[@stonew1927]

That's wonderful. Such simple technology.... In the dry Serengeti of East Africa they are employing a method of digging depression holes at regular intervals to hold the water. It's making a difference as more plants and animals are returning to these areas. These old traditional technologies are often simple and the most effective.

[@timothyblazer1749]

Water lenses are amazingly effective. I'm glad to hear this!

[@evilchaperone]

In India too. They have a project called "the water cup". Where villages try to out do each other by building swails and other water collecting techniques. Some of the transformations are just miraculous.

[@stonew1927]

@@evilchaperone Yes, I saw a another video about a project in Rajasthan, India as well.

[@Few_Thousand_People]

@@stonew1927 these are millennia old techniques, well documented in Sanskrit. It is pious to get wells, ponds and step-wells dug.

[@stonew1927]

@@Few_Thousand_People Nice. Thanks for sharing . . .

[@richardfiennes3616]

Same as in Australia! Cotton is SOOO greedy for water. However, growing hemp would greatly reduce water use and it is fine for clothing whilst not needing so many pesticides etc! Anita Roddick founder of the ethical "Body Shop" chain used some of her wealth to push the use of hemp products and clothing I believe to no avail. The cotton industry is v powerful and refuses to embrace far more sustainable plants. Interestingly, ONLY 1% of cotton clothing is actually recycled around the World. Kind of says it all very sadly!

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Its a shame that many counties make it difficult to grow hemp, its not just clothes but everything, you can even make very strong fire proof homes with the material, you can also make healthy oils with it

[@richardfiennes3616]

@@LeafofLifeWorld Hempcrete housing is DEFINITELY a good way forward. Use far less energy to heat and cool too.

[@chisaomusician7752]

Hemp is the second most hygenic clothing choice. I wish we could get those paper plants using hemp instead of trees.

[@foxooo]

Hemp can basically be turned into anything.

[@HannahRoot55]

@@richardfiennes3616 hey 👋

[@rodneypate1693]

A wonderful story. Wouldn't it be simpler to re-introduce beavers back into the area. Like bees, beavers work diligently and smart and create a better effect in restoring the land than humans. Keep up the effort, I'm so proud of all of you that takes care of Morher Earth ❤♾

[@kazzana9013]

Beavers need trees to build their dams and most of these areas are barren of trees. Once restored to some degree, the beavers will come back or can be reintroduced.

[@jayyy4491]

@@kazzana9013i live in the antelope valley and my mother wants to start a farm of flowers and vegetables as a business. Got into looking how we can do that and asked chat gpt. Funny it gave me a breakdown of what exactly needed to be done. I hope with 10acres this is possible. Sadly I wish we could restore all the land here to what it once was but I realize now that people are the main problem in the entire equation. Really hoping to have my little oasis to restore.

[@BE74297]

@@jayyy4491 The Calif. drought and fires were visibly engineered since 2012, it's been a nightmare. And all the blind mis-educated masses rush out to buy EVs that fast track the all EV Smart gnd/nwo. They never notice/d the skies. And they all act like remote controlled (Woke/Nwo) robots Programmed w/Lies. It's horrific. Berkeley, Calif., UCBeijing (formerly Berkeley) "students" and locals all Woke all the time. VXD/EVs/Masks, fake C.C. beLievers. MSM / EDU / CIA Mockingbird "smart" Program = Dumb as doorknobs. DO YOU THINK that's THE SUN? at 12 seconds?

[@ethandfortune]

Crazy because I grew up building rock dams in the creeks behind my house 25 years later they are much much bigger bodys of water plus when it rained you could hear the water going over the rocks fro. The back patio. ❤ great video.

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Thanks for sharing

[@KJSvitko]

Every home and business should have a rain water collection and storage system. The little rain that does fall should not be wasted. We must live in harmony with nature and the environment.

[@kittimcconnell2633]

Good idea!

[@jessegreywolf]

In many places in north america it is a by-law violation to collect and store rain water

[@tcornis]

That will stop the aquifiers from refilling

[@Gracia144JesusSaves]

I say so well said 📯💪

[@HeyYoFabels]

@@jessegreywolf WRONG, only 2 states have any laws against it. Most states encourage rain collection, California gives a rebate for rain collection systems

[@budgarner3522]

I've seen where beavers have been allowed to transform creeks and land into new fertile wetlands. Smart lady, cattle ranching according to the grasses on the land. Like selecting crops based based upon soil and moisture content of the land. Simple is truly better. Kudos to all.

[@grantmccoy6739]

Something I just noticed yesterday was how soft the soil has become after a severe drought this summer was quenched by heavy rainfall. The soil was so parched, that it actually was splitting apart. After the rain, the top layer broke off, like a flake, and all of the soil, even underneath is extremely soft. It's shocking. It makes me wonder if this actually is nature's way of tilling the soil. Basically, even drought can have benefits.

[@kachinacain4243]

I live in the White Mountains by a cinder mine. My soil is clay and pumice sand heavy. When dried, it is like powder when it doesn't become like rock. I have noticed that the super soft desert soil is actually silt layer under a clay layer.

[@jerbear7952]

No bare cracked soil is never good. That is why healthy bare soil doesn't exist in nature.

[@fortheed3128]

Same principle as Australias natural sequential farming pioneered by Peter Andrew's. He used land contouring and natural formation weirs. Awesome regeneration.

[@babyabraham51]

Amazing transformation of barren land into lush green pastures and farm land . A little water can do wonders . Every rain brings water , all we have to do is to provide a space for it to rest . Wonderful work .

[@donnaleveron5711]

Trees attract rain, so plant all kinds. They also produce oxygen for us to breathe while using the carbon dioxide we expel during photosynthesis. They help to clean the air and provide shade and a cooling effect during hot summers. Fruit trees provide food for people and animals. Please plant trees.

[@natel9019]

⁠@@donnaleveron5711Trees make rain by transpiring water . Have you ever notice the more plants they have in an area the more it rains? When they deforest an area and it rains the water is too hot to penetrate the soil. Cheers!

[@jacobedward2401]

"Anybody with a good will can go out and do something" Love that! Put in your best effort and be patient and willing to learn. But I hope there are more people in the Southwest who will help save their home, because I'm not going down there!

[@kenhunt5153]

Borderlands Restoration, Watershed Mgmt Group and the Mission Gardens in Tucson are great resources for water retention, capture and use. Brad Lancaster is the true Authority on this subject. I would suggest a walk around the Dunbar-Springs neighborhood in Tucson to see these ideas in action.

[@wesrennells910]

For those interested this is a practice called permaculture to my knowledge it is only used on private owners lands but should be used wide spread. That being said it is getting hotter and hotter every year here in AZ and we're getting what feels to be less and less rain fall to compensate for the current usage

[@jonathangold2087]

Great video, and amazing how older tried and true techniques, often adopted from indigenous cultures , can restore green growth in arid regions. We should all take a lesson from this, and these techniques should be promoted to regenerate productive agricultural land in arid regions around the globe. The results shown in this video speak for themselves! Why is this not being widely promoted and disseminated, so that all farms in arid regions could again become productive? One has to wonder why this is the case?

[@maniswil2]

Southern Arizona is not in a drought. The rest of the southwest is. Just a small detail. This year and last year has brought more rain than any other time in recent history. Just the amount of rain days alone this year is going to be a record.

[@marionpfander8752]

True . But will we get rain again next year ? Nothing is predictable anymore , so anyway we can work with nature instead of against it , will help .

[@jackemeraldo6276]

We're having a record good monsoon season here in the southwest. New Mexico and Arizona especially. After a poor snowpack winter.

[@mohannair5671]

There is hope for me and my son after listening to you!!!

[@sabrinawanderer7560]

I read in an article that places that don't rain that much means there are not enough trees for a rain cycle to happen. Precipitation cannot happen when there are few trees. Maybe it's time to prioritise Tree planting over urban developments for Mother Nature to function properly.

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

As long as it isn't monoculture tree planting because as you now see across Europe that is up in flames, they are all eucalyptus plantations, a healthy grass land or wetland is better than a monoculture of trees, tho a forest of diverse tree species is much needed everywhere

[@brokendownoldman9547]

So you need to grow shade trees

[@trishr.3986]

@@LeafofLifeWorld I agree, plant what was there before the land was stripped. I still don't understand palm trees in Arizona.

[@russelldouglas8746]

Beavers would be helpful here. They used to be in every permanent waterway in AZ, and they do the same thing.

[@bearpham565]

Beavers is not a rocks mover 😂

[@PJ818]

^Absolutely this. Beavers slow down water flow, create ponds and meanders, with enough dams they mitigate flash floods, create wetlands that threatened fish and amphibian species need. If there's enough willow in a watershed to support a beaver population, beavers will take over and improve the riparian environment along a river for even more willow, cottonwoods, dogwoods, and at higher elevations, aspens. If the watershed is too steep/not a enough deep water for a relocated beaver to hide from predators, humans may need to come in and build several beaver dam analogs (BDAs) to give the beavers some initial options for places to hide as they settle in. Beavers are river restoration experts that you don't have to pay once they're established; though you may need to build some infrastructure to discourage them from clogging culverts under roads, and washing the roads out inadvertently, or paint trees you don't want chewed down with a latex paint mixed with sand, or wrap a tree's trunk with chicken wire to protect it from beavers. Beavers were reintroduced on the San Pedro River in southern Arizona, and are most definitely helping out that watershed; though there have been some bumps in the road for them from time to time.

[@zoni36]

@@bearpham565He didn’t say they were rock movers.🤦🏻‍♀️ Go google “What is a beaver?” Once you can comprehend that, google “Environmental Impact of Beavers.”

[@jakobrichards5493]

they do the same thing rock dams do but in larger amounts for absolutely free@@bearpham565

[@MrArtist7777]

The EXACT opposite is happening here in Arizona, we're quickly turning in to one large desert as our forests are either being cut down or trees dying from severe lack of rain and snow. AZ's largest natural lake is completely dried up and water is becoming more and more scarce. I suggest everyone to plan on leaving the southwest U.S. when you get the chance.

[@MrArtist7777]

@B B Yeah, we've had a large wildfire every year we've lived here in Flagstaff, for the past 15-years, decimating about 100+k acres of forest. We just had an old friend pass away a few months ago, at the age of 99, who was born and raised in Flagstaff, and she told us just last year that she doesn't remember any wildfires as a kids and that it used to rain and snow A LOT more here, when she was younger, and that it's noticeably much drying and warmer now. The climate records confirm what she remembered. There used to be more small lakes and streams in N. Arizona and today, most of them are dried up and gone. I've hung in there as long as I can, we're buying land and moving up to the Pacific Northwest next year, after we sell our house and wish the Southwest U.S. the best of luck, but it's going to get REALLY ugly here soon with Lake's Mead and Powell drying up, and wells running dry.

[@AlicedeTerre]

@@MrArtist7777 all the best to those that are living there and working on making a difference, but I tell everyone that expresses interest in moving to one of those desert states that it’s gonna be bad in the near future.

[@garcjr]

If hypothetically there is a desalination plant built in California or Mexico to pump water in to the mines and farms of Arizona. It'll be way too late because no one will want to pay for it or conserve water.

[@brentstafford6289]

We need to get serious about water conservation !

[@ronniemassart3834]

@@garcjr I agree.....look @ the $ that California spends on crap. How much did they spend on a subway or whatever it was but never came to be

[@justlenny5525]

Amazing what a few people could all change

[@MjMurphy777]

Wow! One woman made a vast change without any prior training. There’s hope for all of us.

[@ocalicreek]

Yes! Just imagine if she had taken a Permaculture earthworks course, how much more productive and effective her designs could have been.

[@guruemi800]

What an Impressive work! How amazing she is!! Thank for sharing a good story.

[@johnnyjet3.1412]

One of the answers is mixed crop fields - but banking demands single-crop fields - someone needs to tell the banks to go to hell.

[@RyRy2057]

really incredible. it should be noted that the primary technology here isn't the rock itself but that theyre designed to slow and percolate water. vegetation or small earth dams and swales also work for this purpose! water the most effective sustainable design is locally should be used, and I figure there was a lot of rock available there in Arizona and Sonora

[@HannahRoot55]

2057

[@peterclark6290]

Rock dams, aka Leaky Weirs, Australian invention, Peter Andrews. Keyline Water management, Australian invention, P A Yeomans. He also invented the deep chisel plough to break apart hard pan, or compaction layers without turning over the soil and compromising whatever the underground life had already built. Work that has been followed by *Regenerative Agriculture* with names like Allan Savory (Sthn Rhodesian) with many others in both Science and application. Which all began in the 1950s with a paper by Andre Voisin (a Frenchman). Regen Ag farmers most of all needs informed customers (looking for increased nutrition) to help them buy or lease more land to wrest it from the greedy and reckless claws of Industrial Agriculture and Agribusiness. Regen Keywords, Ecosystem, Habitat, Rain water retention and sequestration, Carbon capture and sequestration, it's all about the soil (not dirt), growing not killing, etc. Well worth a deep dive.

[@bpkline5008]

Valer Clark Austin, the "This Woman" in the title of this video is the woman who turned Arizona's Desert into a Farmland Oasis - and they don't even mention her name in the title or the description.

[@kimwarburton8490]

No doubt she also has had a decent moneypot to do something like this Good on her for not being greedy, for returning more to the planet than most, but its simply NOT possible if one doesnt have authority/ownership over the land in 1st place n that takes money and/or local government I DO love watching restoration vids, seeing the difference people CAN make when they have access to resources etc for that hypothetical oneday when i might be able to do something similar

[@janalexandert]

That was inspiring. Thank you.

[@tommctigue9098]

I've been enjoying your channel for a few weeks now and would like to thank you for the work you do .

[@HannahRoot55]

Tom

[@sriv9045]

Wow, super impressed. Keep doing good.

[@peterdollins3610]

In India, China & other places people have been putting in mini dams & holding dams to hold back rain water so it does not run off but sinks into the ground water. Needs to be done everywhere.

[@jeromefridmann6108]

Wrong heading... Should read : " How Arizona Oasis is on a FAST track to desertification " !!!

[@simplethings3730]

Good thing we didn't use up all the rocks during the stone age.😁 This gives me some ideas for my own land. At this time we are going through a serious drought in Texas. Over 600,000 acres have burned so far. I hate to say this but many of my fellow Texans don't seem to see this as a problem. Even after the disaster we had in 2021.

[@ramshousecentral5356]

Using dessert areas as regenerative farming can help sink at least half of all emissions for entire generation. Imagine a world where we don’t have to fight wildfires for conservative our forest but to protect our homes

[@thesurvivalist.]

The sad part is that government and big business, will never use sustainable technology, to grow food, supply resources, and keep our world healthy for human and all the animal life! That answer have existed, since we started growing our own food! Permaculture!

[@derekelliott3971]

Another excellent presentation. You're doing great work here. Thank you

[@The_Gallowglass]

Similar things to the guy who started cutting out pieces of curb in suburban Arizona, so that the water didn't just go to the sewer system, but would re route into people's yards. After a while everything was green again.

[@2centsworth766]

We are having the same problems farther east. I moved to NW Arkansas in 1991. At that time we averaged about 45 inches of rain per year. Today our average is about 35. Also, I might mention the seasons are changing. Winter is coming later. Spring is coming later.

[@matthewtorpey6676]

Two Truly wonderful People with nothing more than a dream, A wonderful drive for the help of our world 🌎. Such a beautiful video. God bless 🙏 Matt from Australia.

[@mickgatz214]

This short video/doc was amazing!

[@Nitka022]

Amazing results! Amazing transformation! Absolutely love your videos. Such a feel good viewing so needed in this sad, difficult times. Thank you! :-))))

[@victortiempo]

Cactus to be planted doesn't need watering but they absorb naturally from the atmosphere so it is a great way of applying cactus as a first step on enhancing plant growth. On the dessrt regions

[@internet_internet]

Nice. Love this. I’m from central Texas. There were once two small creeks within our once-rural neighborhood that flowed and supported life, including fish. The series of creeks throughout the area would all empty out into a bigger creek a few miles away that’s the size of a small river. I would pick big red wild crawfish out of the waters with my fingers. We would catch some of the baby crawfish and take them back to my buddy’s house where they had a flowing water pond/feature in their backyard, and we would put the baby crawfish in there to hopefully grow. (Didn’t work, bad idea! We were kids.) Snakes and other wildlife were so abundant that it was almost a bit of a problem. Over the years in the wild land surrounding our neighborhood where the population used to be zero, they developed massive housing communities where there are now tens of thousands of people living in various types of buildings; from townhomes to condos to apartments, but mostly houses. The two creeks within our neighborhood went dry one summer from a mixture of the destruction of the wild land around them for construction, and also a summer drought. Construction crews filled in the bigger of the two mostly-dry (at the time) limestone-bed creeks with tons of dirt and concrete, turning it into a drainage runoff area with some concrete ditches throughout. The smaller creek never recovered. The bigger of the two, which is now a drainage runoff area, tries to recover whenever it’s a wet season, but it will only recover down to the tiniest trickle flow of water that is now guided along by concrete troughs where there used to be limestone creek beds. I watched the beautiful nature around me that I explored happily as a kid literally get destroyed right in front of my eyes throughout my entire upbringing. I wouldn’t recommend it.

[@23ofSeptember]

Sometimes its just a matter of slowing the water down, creating shade, increasing the nitrogen content of the soil, and of course...prayer!

[@c.d.porter9366]

AZ was green and because of the lack of a rational agriculture policy greed driven developers bought up farm land to put buildings on while reducing available agriculture/farm land.

[@suzannebryant3107]

I will & want to volunteer to "REBIRTH" Mother Nature❤️ I have been educating myself & others (mostly children). The love for Mother Nature & all of the benefits, especially her soil. It truely makes me sick to know that alot of people like to use "weed" killer, they are NOT weeds. I know I am self taught & I can heal my own body, with the knowledge of my own hands on education ❤️ Thank you all for the REBIRTH of our LAND❤️🙏

[@sussudioharvey9458]

People always seem surprised when you tell them that Bison once roamed areas of AZ . I know a few Bison ranchers. If we want meat why cattle? Bison do not near require what cattle do.Survive in areas cattle cannot tolerate. And is leaner and tastier.

[@tomdillan]

This should be done everywhere in AZ where there is a water stream. Also everywhere there has been a fire to reduce runoff.

[@ewetoobblowzdogg8410]

With our abilities, the entire southwest should be massive aquaponics farms. They use only 10% the water of conventional farming, produce 3 times the amount and can locally provide massive amounts of seafood and shellfish

[@EmeraldEyesEsoteric]

Thanks for being a glimmer of hope when virtually all news is bad news.

[@kimberleypex]

Super ! Here you van see how people can save Nature Its great , thank you for this beautifulvideo 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏

[@luciamirandasainz4501]

Thank you both to help and show to everyone how to save our world and create at the same time a paradise in earth!!❤️❤️😄😄🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻💯🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 THANKS TO SHOW US HOW TO DO IT 🌎 We're on time to save our world...☺️☺️☺️☺️

[@gnarmarmilla]

This is such good news. Thank you for sharing this and for all the work that you are doing. I was worried for Arizona, and I still am, because many ignorant people are farming out there and they are very unwise the way the suck the land dry of water without caring for the land. This woman and her organization are a breath of fresh air, a hope for all humanity. I pray to God that more people like her will be blessed to do work like this. I also pray that more journalist and media outlets will do more intelligent work like Leaf Of Life because the people need it. Thanks again

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Thank you for your support 🙏

[@vickyesperanza8267]

the last 7 years in Arizona has been in a very mild summers, we have had tons of rain and we have been cooler in the winters, this last year was the greenest it has been all over the valley. It will be a hot summer and most likely this winter it will still be hotter than the last 7 years. Prior to the last 7 years it has always been hotter and Decembers were always still in the 80"s. It is a cycle..and will continue to be a cycle..

[@jamesmatheson5115]

Holding water on your land is major, once you have water and you have regrowth of grass, you need to flood the gazing land with sheep in very large numbers for short periods, that way you get maximum fertilization, which is the second most important thing.

[@billpetersen298]

For slightly greener places, toss in a few beavers.

[@skeletalbassman1028]

Great video. God bless their work.

[@zhipphow]

Amazing Info Thank You

[@diannegooding8733]

Brilliant work. Congratulations and thanks!

[@IIVVBlues]

Unfortunately, the tremendous density of modern populations overwhelms even the most well-intentioned efforts. The truth is that there are simply too many people supported by the land.

[@lorebrown5307]

Great video. If you're looking for an interesting topic for another video maybe you could look into terra preta soils in S. America. While there are vidoes about them, no one's talking about how and where they are still in use today, what kind of food and abundance they are still providing. Just a suggestion

[@ziaarastu7519]

These videos give us hope !!

[@deannealbrecht774]

We have to go back to go back to farming diversity. I'm in LV and started tower hydroponics to grow my greens and save water and I'm growing other vegetables outside.

[@darrelllingman63]

I think that the Federal government should pass a law where this should be made common practice to save water. Give grants to achieve this or tax breaks. Send government officials out to observe and sign off.

[@victortiempo]

During this global warming period plants in the torrid regions seem to wilt and die , but there are lots of methodss like applying edible cactus to be planted in massive population in order to enhance the soil on retaining moisture but grinding or chapping harvested cactus and disperse it back to the dessert or feed it to animals which animal discharges can help dessert soil becomes more moisteneed

[@victortiempo]

@@billnelson3405 base on forest percentages , global regions plunged to low in terms of perrenial trees existence , agricultural plants holds lesser water and pressurize water vapor into each lower percentage , that accounts for counteracting global warming

[@tammykoble236]

BLESS YOU FOR BRINGING HOPE TO MANY.

[@jamesrjohanniii774]

Should look up the Tucson swales. Built after the depression.. stuff works.

[@OneEyedOneHornedGian]

I wonder is this a good thing? The wildlife in Arizona has spent a long time adapting to it's environment.

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Yes because wildlife need water to survive, even deserts have water and biodiversity, as shown in the video, restoring the watershed has increased the local biodiversity who are adapted to Arizona but if there is no grasslands or vegetation or water these creatures and plants will die. Valer Clark Austin has saved rare endangered fish that would not be there if the watershed is totally dried up.

[@SR-iy4gg]

Agreed. If the land originally WAS green, like places in Africa that have turned into part of the Sahara desert, that's one thing, but turning land that was always desert into something it's not, is not a good thing. Deserts serve a purpose too. Just because people want to farm in a desert doesn't mean it should be farmed.

[@timothyblazer1749]

@@SR-iy4gg nothing was always anything, friend... Large parts of the southwest were under an inland sea if you go back a bit.

[@trishr.3986]

Hmmm... I think the pandemic/c-virus showed us how much wildlife is waiting for human life to "get it" and get out of the way. That doesn't seem a valid question, in my own opinion. Do you mean something like the coyotes and bobcats making themselves at home in yards as adapting? They are in their territory and yet some people think they are around for a visit. I really like this Leaf of life films.

[@MrVillabolo]

Just curious to know, can all of Arizona be transformed into permaculture lands, or is it only certain locations within the state?

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Anywhere can use permaculture

[@simonlinser8286]

Also a guy who did this in Switzerland or Austria, but on top of a small mountain. He basically terraformed it to create a pond and made it verdant and lively where as it was or used to barren and rocky. Idk his name. Also, the co founder of church's chicken did the same. He used his money to buy a ranch and transformed it. There's a documentary about him on KZbin. This is a cool subject.

[@lenkamaresova4116]

Sepp Holzer?

[@owlan99]

Arizona was largely open savannah maintained by large herbivores such as bison. It's was not blanketed in forest.

[@kittimcconnell2633]

This is a superior way to use water. Using ground water will cause salts to build ups on those farms. Rain water is much better! This method is making enormous differences in China, Australia, India, some Middle Eastern and some African countries. So glad to see it's working in Arizona!

[@billykobilca6321]

It's green policy bhllshiet

[@seattleareatom]

Interesting. Where I live in the pacific northwest rock dams are illegal.

[@Gracia144JesusSaves]

What a Great initiative 📯📜📖⛲🌲🌿🌱🏞️

[@marcelofeliciano8151]

Parabéns pelo trabalho que vocês fizeram . 🎉🎉

[@emmahardesty4330]

Permaculture techniques (aka logic) always bring dramatic changes quickly. Thankful for these folks for healing the land.

[@devorahrose782]

We could probably have golf courses but when marinsi copper mines go around buying up pecan orchards and huge tracts of farm land at maximum price just to own the water rights and let the fields and orchards die and irrigation ditches fall into disrepair so they can feed their copper mountain eating habits): we must regulate the hunger of greed

[@zennvirus7980]

Start from the flood plains of existing mayor rivers. Step 1: Excavate shallow, meandering canals and make the rock dams to allow the creeks to form. Step 2: Hire a family of beavers to make ponds and turn the plains around the canals into wetlands. Step 3: Once the beavers have made enough discharge canals for their ponds, use them as reference to start making chinampas (import the help of some expert xochimilcas). Step 4: Establish the system of companion crops (corn, squash, beans, etc.) to maintain the health of the chinampas. Step 5: Once you have enough chinampas and they've reached their maximum expected output within the rotation system, then you can plan business around the minimum yields.

[@alalesc3796]

Great job!!

[@joanthecrow900]

Thank you all involved in sharing this 🙏🏽🤍💛♥️🖤

[@daynaswan427]

We are in a drought so how is Arizona going green?

[@knutvreb6506]

The areas that manage to replenish the groundwater are fine despite droughts. To say that the whole state is going green is still wrong, though.

[@kittimcconnell2633]

The video explains

[@1Corinthians151-4]

seems pretty nice and rainy here this year, like rain every 5 days. or so.

[@garcjr]

It's being used to water all the grass in Scottsdale, Gilbert, and Oro Valley.

[@Flyingdutchy33]

Did you know that increased CO2 helps to make plants more water efficient? It is cited as one of the reasons the drier parts of the world are greening.

[@SR-iy4gg]

Shhh. That doesn't fit the "CO2 is evil" mantra. Don't confuse them with truth.

[@Flyingdutchy33]

@@SR-iy4gg You'd think they'd be happy, but no.. Nasa reports the earth has never been greener because of increased levels of CO2. Yeah, haven't heard that one in the news either.

[@distanceismyplastercast]

Bald faced lie

[@chisaomusician7752]

Great video!

[@Julesong]

I love your transformative videos, especially those for projects in the United States. We need more US-based restoration/conservation videos. 🌼

[@yaboi1476]

Arizona is and has been in a stage 2 water shortage for the majority of the pandemic. We're running out of clean drinkable water. Arizona is not a farmland oasis it doesn't have any natural bodies of water all the lake water comes from the Colorado mountains. There's a drought of almost biblical proprtions on the horizon for us still here in arizona

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

The colorado mountains is not the only place where water comes from clearly, since the video shows you streams and springs from the Chiricahua Mountains, there are many mountains and multiple natural water courses in Arizona, not all have been restored, but if they were then it would improve the water situation alot.

[@abelincoln5000]

Wow!! Fantastic work. Thank you!

[@LeafofLifeWorld]

Glad you liked it!

[@kickinghorse2405]

My new happy channel!

[@maesmith8961]

I have read some criticism where it's just not enough but if everybody would just get on the same page as this woman it would be enough

[@hhwippedcream]

Thank you for sharing! Anybody with a good will can go about anyth8ng!

[@edwardgabel3701]

The old ranching families knew all these practices you talked about. They could not have survived for generations without them. These ideas are not new. As pointed out though, finding the labor to do this hard manual labor is difficult.

[@reginabehme6464]

Großartig! Danke.

[@randydurston4777]

I love this video. I’m currently doing this on a smaller scale in my own backyard here in Peoria,AZ. ❤❤❤

[@flip1980ful]

This makes me happy!

[@nashkh1]

Love and respect from Canada ❤