How do you make Paradise?
Water.
In this article, I am going to give you two things:
- Education. Tips so you can create paradise.
- Inspiration. How I’m turning a 160-acre mountain property into paradise.
THE EDUCATION
Water is life.
Where it meets land, it creates the most bio-diverse landscapes in the world.
Think of the coral reef. Think man-groves. Think of the Nile, the Amazon, and the Mississippi.
Where water is abundant is also where humans thrive.
More water = more plants = more animals (like us).
It should be every person’s goal to create water-rich lands around themselves.
To make it so rich, they can live on the interest. Not the capital.
Re-read that last paragraph.
I can not stress how important that concept is.
So how do we go about growing that wealth?
WATER + three simple words:
- Slow (it down)
- Store (it in ponds and dams)
- Soak (it into the soil)
Let’s give you some inspiration + show you the top 4 water assets I’m building for a client.
P.S. Want a Permaculture designer & installer in your corner? Let’s make your paradise. >CLICK HERE<
THE INSPIRATION
My most exciting client when it comes to water is Azhen Sanctuary…. we are putting in 30 ponds!
(One of them is even called Paradise Pond).
Here are the 3 most important ponds:
(We are working on them right now!)
1) Source & Sink Ponds
“Source” = The highest point you can hold water on a landscape.
“Sink” = The lowest point on your property you can hold water.
This client got LiDar and topographical maps so this was SUPER easy to find.
While I have the equipment to do this, it’s awesome to just hire a pro-surveying company and get software like this:
See the little blue dot on the top mountain?
That is the “source” / highest source of water. We named it the “Oasis”.
And see that little patch of blue in the bottom left corner?
That’s the “sink” / lowest source of water. We named it after their friend.
But get this:
We built them both last week! Check it out:
2) “The Keypoint”
In every slope, there is an ideal pond spot to get both volume + head pressure.
Why is it that important? To fight fires, for irrigation, and for micro-hydro.
I won’t get into the technical details of how you find it… but to over-simplify, let’s just say it’s “midway” on a slope.
We have 2 locations “midway” locations picked out…
Fire Dam & Power Pond. Here they are on the map:
3) Best Bang for Buck
The most common practice in the pond/dam industry is to dig the biggest hole as cheaply as possible.
I advise clients to be careful taking this approach. Racing to bottom dollar is not always best.
However, it DOES make sense to be economical where you put a pond and its shape.
For example, place it where water already pools and in a valley (valley ponds need only one wall).
I want to introduce you to “Paradise Pond”.
It’s a huge valley. And water already pools there.
Today I started digging this pond with the excavator…
…then I wrote this for you. 🙂
IN SUMMARY:
Water is critical to life.
The best time to invest in water was 10 years ago.
The second best time is now.
Remember… no matter your property size:
- Design from Source to Sink.
- SLOW, STORE, SOAK.
Your consultant & designer,
Kenton Zerbin
(P.S. Want a paradise? Contact me >>>HERE<<< for my services.)
(Kenton is a passionate educator & consultant for sustainable living. Kenton runs a wide array of workshops on tiny homes, sustainable living, and Permaculture. He lives in his off-grid tiny house in BC and does consulting internationally.)