Met Service predicted 15 mm of rain for us last night – we got 3 mm. That just about sums up water – too little, too much, and unpredictable. And the prediction is for more unpredictability in rainfall in the future. With this in mind, we are in the process of trying to ‘climate-proof’ our property with regard to water.
There are places on the property where we want more water and places where we want less water. For example, high on the property we are holding water with a new water tank…
… and building swales.
Other places, we are trying to direct water away from structures… 
… and in this case away from a fence that is rotting because it has remained waterlogged for many years.
Here is a batten rotting from the bottom upward. 
The drainage around the house is especially appalling and has required major intervention, such as this.
And this.
And this.
And this.
Underneath the house looks like this – relocating water from the ‘high side’ of the house to the ‘low side’
Three drains uphill of the house end up here – draining out and underneath a garden path.
Everyone loves Water!
Peace, Estwing
Eco Thrifty Living 
Very clever.
Am thinking of turning the bottom part of the lawn into a habitat for frogs etc. It’s mostly swamp anyhow 🙂
We still need to do a drain along the back of the house too. We hired a cowboy builder (registered and with reccomendations – how unlucky can you get!) to fix the back wall which had rotted away and part of that was supposed to be the drain. Oh well – roll on 2015.
viv