Mark Shepard on Managing Water on Your Farm

Permaculture farmer Mark Shepard will explain water handling on the farm from contour farming, grassy waterways and USDA terraces to Australian-borne keyline design and his modified American Keyline methods. Learn how to keep the water high on your hills where it can benefit the farm.
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This presentation was recorded live at PV2 in March 2015.
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[@Jefferdaughter]

For those who are concerned about Shepard talking about 'keeping' the water on the farm, no worries. Instead of running off rapidly, carrying nutrients and topsoil with it (erosion) to the streams and rivers and then to the bays, gulfs, and oceans (where the nutrients and silt cause problems in those ecosystems) - keyline design helps restore soil and renew the hydrological cycle by allowing rainwater to be absorbed by the soil, nourish plant and soil life communities (which are intertwined, of course), replenish aquifers, and restore springs. We have treated the soil so badly for so long that we have forgotten that lakes, streams, and rivers are fed - in a functioning ecosystem- by underground water flows, NOT surface runoff. In arid regions, this is especially important, as water flowing over the surface of land is more likely to be lost to evaporation.

[@b_uppy]

I love his system. It is a well thought out branch of permaculture that deserves more attention. Capturing the water (and airborne humus, while sequestering carbon) higher on the land is really a good idea.

[@TheVigilantStewards]

This was great, I could mostly guess at what he was pointing at in person but it would have been nice to be able to see it - still really enjoyed it

[@b_uppy]

There needs to be a better visual connect to what Mr Shepard is saying. I love his book and ideas.

[@carldupoldt9260]

Great presentation

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

How does this only have 2,000 likes?!

[@dinosaur0073]

Thank you very much. We have learn alot. Making hole was great Idea. My grand grand fathers made this Idea before but they fail to choose correct trees. They choose trees with short roots, when water shortage they left the area & all their trees die. Some native trees with deep root came after sometime and occupy the area. The native trees grow around the hole and protect the water from avoporate. They communicate with climbing trees to close the loop and allow some birds to live in it....something really amazing..!!!

[@justgivemethetruth]

Wow, Diego, never saw these before, thanks for posting all this information.

[@SD-co9xe]

You can also tell if your trench is level, if you dig your trenches during heavy rain. The water fills the trench when level. It is quite fun to see the instant progress and how it all works.

[@mandiegarrett1706]

Would the rain carry off some of the soil since it you just dig it and have not get chance to plant for roots to hold on the soil? Newbie to permaculture here. Thanks.

[@SD-co9xe]

@@mandiegarrett1706 No, because the water flowing in the keyline trenches is not flowing that quickly since they are level. I was just doing this the other day. The water may overflow if you were digging in a valley during heavy rain, but if you further out digging the keyline trench the water flows more slowly. There would be other factors that would influence whether you have overflow such as the amount or rain, soil type, and the size of your trenches.

[@codyjones1172]

Thank you for sharing this wisdom, I have listened and learned a lot!

[@Jefferdaughter]

Confusing: 17:38 The illustration and Shepard both say to plow 'up' toward the ridges- but the actual groves, channels, swales go down relative to sealevel as they go out onto the ridges, so the water flows from the valleys, 2ndary valleys, hollows, gulches where the water naturally collects out to the (otherwise) drier ridges). This hydrates the ridges, prevents surface runoff, prevents marshy spots in the valleys and dips in the landscapes... as Shepard says. This was really confusing, until I looked at the elevation markets on the illustration.

[@teaceremony2460]

The more I watch his videos the more I understand the system… soon ✨🙏✨

[@mousasaab2652]

0:54 Mark started off swinging wow

[@a.N.....]

My parents house was built at the base of a key point, thier sump pump is always going to deal with the unmanaged water table. I hope I can help them

[@ryankahlor3563]

Thank you

[@joanhuffman2166]

Nice lecture and because I'm an audio learner I understand most things, at least I think so. However I'm also a visual learners and the disconnect between what he's saying and what is down is really frustrating. He says here, here, and here but there's nothing pointing at anything.

[@will21123]

Frustrating that the images do not always match up to what he is referencing

[@gggreggg]

i agree with you. should have at least had a pointer or laser to indicate what he is referring to. (i'm outta here.)

[@Jefferdaughter]

It's frustrating... but we are fortunate to be able to hear this presentation and see most of then images he refers to- without having to travel or pay to attend.

[@hhwippedcream]

Is there any downside to over-catchment? I realize a well planned and operated system can preclude a lot of situations but wondering what large scale implementation would entail. Curious what considerations should be made as far as appropriate context

[@willemvanaalst4293]

Mark unfortunately I found this video not good since obviously you were pointing out things and I was looking at a static pictures and even with my knowledge of the subject I was not getting the nuances that you were trying to explain. Not a good way to present

[@cabwaldo]

This isn’t his video. Someone recorded the presentation and added pictures to make a video.

[@jasonsimmons4319]

I thought it was fine

[@b_uppy]

@@jasonsimmons4319 Lol.

[@SuerteDelMolinoFarm]

Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

If you wish to get water into the shallow aquifer for reuse, you need enough depth to create sufficient head pressure to get the wet-season precipitation into the ground!

[@zidanethalib]

Well said 👍👍👍

[@umayoubm3866]

Weve a new place in arid land with little rain, must i keep water in a sealed tank to water plants year round? Otherwise how can i get water for plants.

[@davejones4269]

You should visit Madeira ……the water on slopes has been managed for centuries using levadas although in a slightly different way

[@hhwippedcream]

I can only think of the Diablo range and the endless opportunities it may provide.

[@TumppiWw]

Thanks for putting this online! However, I don't agree with the idea that around 41:00 the plan would be going off-Keyline, the point chosen for the design is the keypoint of the primary valley and all those others are just erosion runnels and not primary valleys. Ignoring the erosion runnels and doing the design on primary valleys makes it simpler. As a bonus, if you do tillage with the keyline pattern, you gradually move soil to the runnels and fill them up. Been doing that since 2013 on our farm.

[@recoveringniceguy57]

Awesome info, his Jack Spirko reference made me lol

[@MsCaterific]

I was just starting to understand the complexity of 'keylines', but now I'm seriously confused.

[@jameshunt2905]

That can be expected where complexity is revisited with intent of additional input. This video is a perfect example the speaker, as he said, is both condensing and moving through a mountain of experience, conveying insights, sharing examples and experience as well as looking at different disciplines, relating to permaculture, whats useful from Yeomans materials, all while monitoring how relatable what ends up being presented in order to be absorbable by his students, so to speak. Point being confusion might be seen as an indication on the spectrum of development..... much like Keyline principles and what becomes considered as complexity would offer. Hope this helps

[@zmkdco8956]

keyline is a line that connects keypoints

[@davidwilkinson333]

Interesting presentation, but a lot of the value was lost by the photos/images not being kept current with the discussion :-(

[@andresamplonius315]

Wonder if BIOCHAR was ever applied to that red clayish soil. Maybe that's what it's lacking.

[@11219tt]

Curious about the 1% grade for the swales going to lots of small ponds. Why not keep the water in the swales so it can soak downhill slowly rather than collecting in in mini ponds? Just curious.

[@freenewlife8]

His reply would probably be more valuable, but I'll share that ponds support our beneficial wild animals like small birds, frogs, snakes and lizards. Pollinators, which are vital to fruit production) like butterflies and bees also need surface water (sandy edges on ponds) to drink water from. If organic pest control is your goal then trading a small amount of food (one can plant mulberry trees to lure birds away from raspberries) for birds eating insects, habitat is a great use for ponds. Ponds/cisterns allow water to be drawn into watering cans at planting time also, and in tending tender annuals that shouldn't dry out while getting established. Most permaculture gardens/food forests include some non-hybrid hearty annuals, especially when the gardener enjoys adding exciting new/old/ancient varieties, to try to increase diversity and in discovering the best annuals that reseed themselves in their specific soil-climate-sun exposure. Those annuals always need a bit of human help in starting the first year, even if they become integrated into the system as acclimated volunteers in following years. Using water runoff gathered into small ponds takes advantage of the water resource in a useful/usable way.

[@MrFatist]

swales can;t be populated by mosquito eating fish. In addition it is hard to calculate how long seepage will take, also it can cause landslides, all that water held on contour. Many designs hold water in dams above the swale system which can be fed into it when desired, or using other irrigation systems. Also as geoff lawton would tell you who this guy clearly hates: you shouldn't have a slope on swales. they are directly on contour. they then overflow at points into the next lower swale, and so on. an incline on swales without a doubt will cause erosion, landslides, and faster water movement then desired.

[@harryweyer2174]

Aren Watson Geoff Lawton and Bill Mollison are great pioneers in this tho if you look at the Peruvian culture and the Asian culture they have done this stuff forever,as modern pioneers in these fields I think they all should be guilded the respect for the further education they try to do however flawed it may be. It’s creating awareness to the issue of better or best land management practice which will reap super benefits to the land and life preservation for those that rely on their land to eat,be good,be safe,take care.

[@MrFatist]

Not sure what you had against what I was saying, yes i agree. The traditional Hawaiians used swales too, you're right they're ancient. Jeff lawton knows his stuff though.

[@harryweyer2174]

Aren Watson it was not an attack on your thought pattern it was more an agreement to what you stated with added evidence to back your comment and educated opinion to this subject,perhaps I should have just shut my mind and mouth.

[@tobikellner8708]

Hey, a bit off on a tangent, but what do you think about using something like the AR Sandbox, kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHKXpqmhdrinhsU, for planning/teaching this aspect of Permaculture? What I have in mind is using drones to capture good terrain/contour models for real sites, and then use the AR sandbox to a) rebuild the landscape in the sandbox (humans do the building, computer shows where to add/remove more sand until sand model matches the data), b) simulate realistic rainfall events and how water harvesting structures would function. I know you do not need the sandbox for this, you can do it on paper or screen or in your head/intuition. But I wonder if this tool would make it easier to communicate ideas to clients & students. I'm a tech geek with a desire to add something useful to the permaculture community, so let me know what you think about this. Thanks!

[@drtootsi]

Update please?

[@michaelgettens4411]

Andrew Millison does this now @@drtootsi

[@paulofaria6859]

Awsome video but very confusing where diction and "funny noises" didn´t help!!

[@pedroalmeida9415]

Do you know a simple way to put portuguese subtitles, please?

[@b_uppy]

Under settings, in the captions category it offers auto translate.

[@pervezak]

Can I use some of the slides for a presentation. Trying to regreen a 50 thousand acre lot where we get just 210 mm rain and that too just in 7 to 8 days of monsoons. Very windy too. Unfortunately I can not extract the slides from the video. can you help?

[@chrislangdell117]

Going to need some serious water storage.

[@abrotherinchrist]

One thing no one seems to elucidate upon when talking about "zero input" agriculture is the huge expense of renting machinery to make swales and contours to essentially convert your land into a giant rainwater collection and irrigation system. Unfortunately, that is impossibly prohibitive for most people. There ARE inputs, they just are mostly up front in the initial design phase, and those inputs are substantial.

[@bolosandninjarolls]

Unless you are dealing with a huge project, along the lines of 5+ acres, you should be able to dig them by hand if you're physically capable of doing so. Also the point of permaculture is the up front investment of your money and time, to set up a system that you won't have to do much for in the following years. Essentially, do all of the work now, and reap the benefits for yeeeears to come. As far as zero input goes, of course there's input to set the system up, but you really can set up a system that only requires you to pick the food off the plant and prune occasionally. Hopefully this will change your mind on it being impossibly prohibitive, the only prohibiting factor is how hard you're willing to work to create a productive system.

[@abrotherinchrist]

@@bolosandninjarolls No, it hasn't changed my mind. I'm just one person and so I can only do so much. I just wish I could do more. Last year I built a top for my lawn mower trailer to collect leaves. I collected as much of the fall leaves as possible and deposited them in a thick layer in the center of my back yard. The soil there is great now. Now if only I could solve my vole problem. They destroy my plant's roots. I understand companion planting can help solve this.

[@dodopson3211]

@@abrotherinchrist edibleacres hand digs a lot of the waterworks but yeah machinery does things much quicker.

[@b_uppy]

Farmers normally have plows, and the keyline plow is merely replacing it. Buying a keyline plow is a relatively inexpensive purchase for a farm, and you would buy it as you use it regularly enough. Additionally Mark talks about how to get around typical problems of doing what he's doing regarding plants for startup. Pay attention to the instruction. Your argument, falls flat.

[@marksandsberry8820]

I loved the info. However, it is frustrating when you put up a slide and say, "Here, and here," but you don't use a pointer, or not one visible in the video. Please, add arrows.

[@b_uppy]

Yeah, it's not happened yet in the 4 plus years the video has been up.

[@TBoneZone]

What we need someone to invent is a Keyline Plow that leaves a Composted Sawdust Paste in its wake.

[@derekweber3874]

Hello

[@TheGrmany69]

The only deficiency one finds in pastures are in drylands and wetlands, one for being to dry (compacted or lose sand/dunes) and the other for being too anoxic.

[@TheGrmany69]

In my country key points are very obvious when you see mountains because they have gorges and gorges create micro climates and tropical forests.

[@b_uppy]

Besides keylining you can plant for location and obtain harvests that way.

[@TheGrmany69]

@@b_uppy The traditional way, like rye in very dry and cold places. Temperature and altitude are important factors also.

[@b_uppy]

@@TheGrmany69 That sounds like a precarious lifestyle to grow rye. Definitely want to employ alley cropping with useful trees and keylining to keep the roots polite.

[@joestro7826]

Soil is alive not just some broke up stuff. The water is for the microbes. For the most part. That and not letting your runoff give all your good soil to your neighbor Bob.

[@zasvedogovore]

3:35 omg

[@fshah48]

No wov moment for me in this entire video. To be honest I did not understand this keyline thingy, sounds abstract. When I listen to Geoff Lawton, nothing seems difficult, abstract or impossible.

[@b_uppy]

This isn't Mark's video, so you don't get to see what Mark was actually pointing out. Don't scoff at Mark's teaching.

[@Forester-qs5mf]

Follow the 6 principals of soil health and your soils water infiltration rate will increase such that there is no need for the expense and inconvenience of trying to create engineering solutions to what is a biological problem.

[@Jefferdaughter]

Let's start a CoFundMe campaign to hire Darren Doherty, Sepp Holtzer (if he is still up to it), and Mark Shepard to rehydrate the land all across California!! (grin!) Wouldn't it be awesome!

[@gedwardnelson]

Forget California. TEXAS! 😉

[@RegenerativeMojave]

I bought 6 acres in the Mojave as a project to green it and refill that aquifer.

[@tireddad6541]

Beavers are cheaper

[@b_uppy]

Make it Mark Shepard and Brad Lancaster and I am in.

[@lowenlowen9140]

Wow. A Most Important Point: Don't dig ponds, dig holes. NO civil engineering, management plans, permits, etc.

[@wasimrashid2529]

SWILE & Ego 29:14 😇😂😎

[@fshah48]

Can any one of you gurus define unambiguously the the terms KEYPOINT and KEYLINE. Author has not been able to make me understand it.

[@nineallday000]

The keypoint is the point on a slope where the water goes from accelerating at an increasing rate during a heavy rain event to decreasing in speed. Think of going down a waterslide at an amusement park, before you "bottom out" there is a point where you begin to slow down and transition the other direction, that is a keypoint. He explains why this point is important (water collects here, clay collects here etc.) so the goal is to move the water away from this keypoint and stop it from continuing to flow down. A keyline is just a standard contour line that includes a keypoint that helps you to accomplish this, to move water away from the keypoint and stop it from flowing straight down a slope. So if you are standing on a keypoint that you have located, and walk at an equal altitude along a landscape (on contour), the line you are walking on would be considered a keyline. You then run all your lines of trees parallel to this line going up and down the slope for ease of cultivation and to have standardized alley widths, whatever that may be (9-18 meters). He likes to slope his keyline .25%-1% so that the water slowly moves along and down to the next row of tree lines, but you get the idea hopefully.

[@b_uppy]

It'scthe fault of the person who are the video from a class by Mark Shepard.

[@maximilianchastain1739]

Would it not be better to create top soil and then let the bottom of that convert into subsoil than to convert subsoil into topsoil? cumulative biomass?

[@b_uppy]

Deeper soils are much better than a little surface accumulation. Deeper carbon sequestration corrects soil. It makes poor draining soil drain better, it makes sandy soil retain water. It also makes nutrients more bioavailable. Part of the point is to keep water where you need it in, and good soil does that.

[@Albaus73]

I am realy sad that non of the good "permaculture" and "natural" farmers" are in Germany. And it is realy hard to learn from the Videos. Especially when the Videos made like this one. Realy sad. And if i would have a wife who would be more interested in Farming at all. Maybe we could move as Woofer around the world and learn from the good one. But sadly i live in a "golden cache". I know, don't cry.

[@fuzzy_willow]

There is one somewhere near or in germany: sepp holzer. He is one of the best

[@Albaus73]

@@fuzzy_willow Thank you, i know. But it is still to far from me and really expensive. I really like him and i watched a almost all his videos. Also i own one of his books, which did not help me so much, sadly.

[@b_uppy]

@@fuzzy_willow Sepp's is of limited value.

[@austincastilo]

this guys jokes are fire.

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

at 14:59 you will not find clay forming there. Too much kinetic energy at that point for clay to settle. There is a reason you do not find steep clay unless an uplift happened there.

[@b_uppy]

False. It's hard to tell but their are little dips there, additionally the plants there also absorb the water's kinetic energy...

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

@@b_uppy The only clay that would settle into a small dip would be from the tail end of a storm after the runoff stopped flowing if there is any clay in the runoff water. It is not going to form a continuous formation of clay that would be significant. Further there is not enough head to compact the clay into a functional unit under a couple inches of water.

[@b_uppy]

Think you are making assumptions from limited data. *Depends on the rain event's strength (you're assuming all rain events are storms), the effect of a series of rain events, the amount of airborn clay particulate, as well as any lose surface clay. Rocks and plants will have their effect as well,* especially if there is an established dip... Seen plenty of manmade waterworks and natural water eventw to know you're wrong.

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

@@b_uppy I doubt you have built any quality waters or habitats to know the difference between right or wrong in any of this.

[@b_uppy]

@@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists That's funny, I think the same about you...

[@jamestiller6125]

Sounds like he keeps a 12 month a year cold

[@howdychick30]

I sound similar, almost year round due to allergies. Definitely aggravating when Im trying to have a conversation and constantly having to clear my throat.

[@CHMichael]

It's so sad that this is necessary. Remember the dust bowl? Look at old European farms. None of this is new.

[@alistairthomson3221]

Not a great video because you do not show us on the video what you are talking about. For example, you show us a picture and sat "See there, you will see .... and there is no indication of what you are talking about. Your subject is very interesting and I would like to know more but you make it difficult to follow without showing us. Pleae try again. Thank you

[@MrFatist]

when you mulch you aren't killing soil. You are killing grasses and herbs, their roots decompose and they form humus. With continual mulching you will continually feed microbes in the soil, as well as invertebrate. If you plant overstory plants/ trees and pruning then you are BUILDING SOIL. Ploughing kills soil unfortunately, even keyline which is low impact. Keyline is good but you failed to explain a few points about soil building.

[@Jefferdaughter]

The wrong kind of mulch, especially if too wet or too thick where it restricts oxygen reaching the soil, can actually be harmful to or kill beneficial soil organisms, as you know. (Harmful soil-dwelling organisms are nearly all anaerobic). Living roots in the soil are important for soil life and soil building. Grasses, in particular, excel at pumping carbon into the soil. Grasses 'farm' the soil food web by making particular carbohyrates to feed certain kinds of soil dwelling organisms, depending on what the plant needs at that time. Fascinating, eh? Dr. Elaine Ingham's talks have a lot more info, if you're interested.

[@Jefferdaughter]

Keyline plowing, for those who may be unaware, is often done only once. Sometimes it may be repeated. In the USA, we have only seen it used on grassland- pastures. As explained near the end, the 'keyline plow' is what we call a sub-soiler. It slices a grove through the soil, and does not turn the soil over like we think of with plowing. These slices relieve compaction, allowing both water and air to get into the soil, so then soil food web and roots can thrive. And to prevent erosion from water runoff, etc.

[@b_uppy]

Mulch doesn't build soil. It allows plants to thrive and kill the soil that way by depleting it. Keylining breaks off some roots, those roots die and their carbon builds the soil that way. Carbon is a great corrector of soils. It binds sand particles together so they can retain water. They make clay bond together in aggregates so they allow that soil to drain faster. Carbon also makes certain nutrients more bio-available. As Jefferdaughter says, keylining is not plowing...

[@poodwood]

Sounds like he’s dying.

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

Would be easier to follow if Shepard didnt do cocaine for this presentation.