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Rainwater harvesting
Dryland Alchemy: Building a Dam in the Desert
Capturing fleeting rainfall on our small farm created permanent wildlife habitat in an infamously arid region. This is climate resilience in action.
We call our farm Windhelm. If you ever played Elder Scrolls, you will know where it comes from. The name suited the farm, bar us not getting snow. If we did, we’d have more frequent water harvesting opportunities. There are also areas on the farm that receive no wind, while others get strafed by gales every other afternoon.
Windhelm is not a large commercial enterprise, but a survival farm managed in family mode. The farms in this region are upwards of 100 hectares and as large as 20,000. Not that large when you consider that vegetation and arable areas are minimal. We are a farming couple, and do almost everything ourselves, and our 80ha farm provides ample stress and rewards alike.
The annual evaporation of over 2100 mm (84 inches) far exceeds the annual rainfall of 374 mm (14 inches); by a factor of five, actually. This semi-arid desert's long history makes an ominous feeling somewhat understandable.
Despite the relatively little rain, we humans continue to live in these challenging environments. A strict dry-lands water management strategy, integral to our “waste not, want not” approach, is vital. If the rain falls, we need to hold onto it. And over the last few years, our understanding of how to do that has greatly increased.
Our Precipitation Patterns
Readers living in desert areas will understand this reality intimately: desert regions experience exceptionally volatile weather patterns. Temperatures fluctuate widely, from 40°C (104°F) during the day to below freezing overnight in winter.
Unpredictable changes in temperature, air pressure, wind, and humidity result in extended periods of dry heat, suddenly transitioning to severe thunderstorms.
