Water for afforestation
We design a landscape to support biodiversity. The waterscapes we create to support forest plantations are based on a cascade of small ponds. Proper pond design is a serious job that is carried out by interested and passionate people. It is very important that the pond becomes part of the landscape, as if it has always been there.
Dry and heated surfaces of deserts and drylands do not absorb rainwater well. Therefore, when it rains in the desert, the bulk of the water simply flows down, not having time to saturate the soil and provide long-term support to the plants.
Therefore, it is obvious that the main task of landscape preparation in desertified and degraded lands is to retain water on the soil surface in order to enable it to cool the earth and slowly absorb the water. It is very important to hydrate the earth's body, as the soil is the best reservoir for storing water in the desert.
In the areas with arranged water landscapes, without additional efforts, local plants will be able to strengthen and form a denser vegetation cover. This happens in the places where landscape conditions retain rainwater and give it the time to saturate the soil and subsoil. Where the water lingered for a long time, plants were able to survive and fill in the space. In such places, it is enough not to interfere with the natural growth of plants or to plant additional trees that can provide more shade for the soil and retain more moisture.
Another valid evidence that artificial landscape changes can trap moisture and enhance the ability of plants to occupy desert lands is the road construction.
Roads and ditches built by people cause rainwater to concentrate in certain areas. However, excavation sites or construction pits will store and retain water, allowing it to soak in and provide long-term support to the plants. Artificial pits, ditches and dams also work in the water landscapes we have created. So artificial water landscapes and additional types of trees, shrubs and grasses will reduce the force of rain flows, retaining water in the soil.
The water landscapes we create are based on cascades of small ponds. Forming a pond correctly is a serious job that should be done by interested and enthusiastic people. It is very important that the pond becomes a part of the landscape, as if it had always been there. The natural position and structure of the lake greatly increases the chances of plants being planted later. While building ponds, we avoid artificial corner or circular shapes and steep banks. We choose natural forms of landscape - curved, meander and with shallow shores.
We use what is already on the ground. In most cases, the lowest point on the plot is the most suitable place for a pond. Surface and underground waters is already flowing here.
The shape of the pond should support the power of self-cleaning: this effect is based on the biological decomposition of organic bonds by microorganisms. This process requires oxygen. With good oxygen supply, the self-cleaning force is also high. The body of water receives oxygen from plants and by movement. When a pond or lake is properly constructed, it’s almost always in easy motion. If water can move, it can always purify itself and will be clean and clear.
The formation of the pond must support three forms of water movement.
Waves: Even the smallest movement of the wind produces waves on the water surface. Every tiny wave brings oxygen into the lake. Humus particles, leaves and other suspended particles are carried to the shore far from the wind. There should be aquatic plants, which these particles are retained by foliage and roots and gradually take for themselves as fertilizer. In order to maintain the shape of the wave formation, you need to position the pond in the direction of the wind.
Meander shape: horizontal water moves best in the shape of a snake. This is how curved river flows arise. Also, one drop on the glass does not flow straight down, but as aserpentine. In order to maintain the serpentine own movement of water, you need to create the banks not straight, but curved and natural.
Natural mixing of water: A third form of water movement is inversion, which appears due to temperature differences. Warm water rises up, cooled water goes down. Thus, the water in the lake is mixed from bottom to top. The more deep-water and shallow-water zones in the pond is different, the more thoroughly this process goes.
We design reservoirs to support biodiversity. The more different living spaces created is different, the greater the diversity of flora and fauna. The greater the variety of fish, insects, snails and crayfish, the more stable the ecological balance in and around the pond, the more independent the entire system will be. Therefore, the natural lake has coastal, shallow and deep-water zones.
The coastal shallow water zones are the first to warm up in the spring, are highly productive and rich in nutrients. Reeds, rushes, reeds and other coastal plants grow here. They serve as shore fortification, shading, spawning and protecting for fry, as well as protection for water birds.
Shallow open water areas are the areas for leaf-forming plants floating on the water surface, such as water lilies and white water lilies. Also, these plants serve as a refuge and protection for fry, as food, shade and slow down the movement of the water. Underwater plants (algae) and plankton live in the free water zone (up to 1 m deep).
Deep areas are dark and free of vegetation. Deep water zones are needed to equalize temperatures. If the deep-water zone is several meters deep, then at any time of the year there is approximately the same temperature. With this effect of the refrigerator in the hot summer, the pond provides better conditions for oxygen-loving fish.
To create ponds, we build earthen dams in the beds of drying streams. The height of the dam should not be too high. Its main task is to stop the outflow of groundwater, and not to create a large drop in the water level, as was done during the construction of a hydroelectric power station. To do this, we first lay in the ground a waterproof core, several meters deep. On the sides, it should also enter the slopes for several meters. This dam must be absolutely watertight. For the construction of each dam, we necessarily conduct surveys and develop a project. This work begins immediately after the choice of the construction site.
The core of the dam should be covered by earth on both sides so that a slope is formed with an angle of inclination of approximately 1: 2. The dam can be greened, but not with the deep-rooted plants. The material for the dam can be taken from the area where a depression should arise to retain water in the future reservoir. Due to the excavation in one place, a deep-water zone arises in the future pond, which can be up to 10-12 m deep.
To drain excess water on or near the dam, drainage should be provided so that it can withstand the flow in the heaviest rain. This will prevent the dam from being washed away.
When the seasonal rains come, water will be naturally collected and accumulated in front of the dam. It will first seep into the ground and fill the invisible water reservoirs in the earth body. Then a lake or pond forms and, filling the earth's reservoir, will moisten the local landscape.
During the dry season, the water level in the pond will drop due to evaporation. But, nevertheless, the water reservoir of the earth's body will be filled, water seeps from there. The fluctuations will lessen every year. This is how the earth body can fulfill its leveling function. If not only one lake is built, but the entire water landscape of water retention basins, then the leveling action is multiplied. In wide areas around the water landscape, the earth body will be saturated with water. In this case, the water level in the lakes will drop less significantly less during the dry season.
In addition to water bodies, we create ditches and cuts on the hillsides. We position pits and ditches so as not to allow water to collect in streams and erode the soil and our future plantations. This is how we help the rainwater to linger on the slopes and fill the sponge with the earth's body. The absorbed water remains in the soil and gradually seeps down, raising the water table. This, in turn, will allow our future trees to survive the dry season better.
