Location: Templeton, CA

Land & Climate Characteristics: The 10 acres are all set on a generally south-facing secondary ridge, with dominant solar aspects ranging from southeast to southwest. Much of the property has steep grades, ranging as high as 36% in some places. Soils were thin and eroded to shale bedrock in some places, with very low organic matter, high erosion susceptibility, low water-holding capacity and very low soil biology. The prior owners had set-stocked livestock, and the pasture areas showed evidence of both over-grazing and over-rest, with many manure clumps greater than 2 years old still sitting on the ground untouched. Pastures are dominated by annual grasses and forbs.

Implementation Scope: Passive water harvesting earthworks and erosion control system to create the physical skeleton for the planned food forest on the south facing ridge crest below the main residence.

• The earthworks served to improve access by foot and vehicle to the food forest zone via the creation of an access ramp leading to an upper terrace.
• An upper swale was installed to harvest run-off water that had been exiting the property down the paved driveway, instead patterning it on contour to allow it time to infiltrate.
• Three additional terraces were installed below this swale to act as the primary growing area. A series of media luna flow concentrators/spreaders were installed to pacify discharge over the level sill spillway in the event of a heavy precipitation event.
• Just below the valley keypoint (where the slope transitions from convex to concave) in the valley below, a second swale was installed to capture any discharge and allow it to infiltrate uphill of the deep valley soils which will be prime growing area in the future. 
• This system will harvest and infiltrate between .5 – 1.25 million gallons of water per average rain year that would otherwise be lost to run-off, and improve moisture persistence in the soil to nourish the food forest and wildlife habitat plantings to come.