After taking Geoff Lawton’s earthworks course a couple of years back, I was keen to have a go at doing my own implementation. I walked out of that course with the “book knowledge” to decide where dams should go, how they are built and how to design a series of swales and dams to maximise the water capture on your land.
At long last, I finally was fortunate enough to actually own some land and I hired a local guy to build the dam on my tiny 1 acre property (yes you can fit a dam on a property that size, if the layout is just right. Now about 9 months later after building the dam, the winter rains have come and for the first time it is filling up. Huzzah!