TENTH ACRE FARM

How to Build a Swale

to Capture Roof Water
WHAT IS A SWALE?
A swale is a technique used for managing water in a landscape.
SUPPLY LIST Conventionally, this technique is used to whisk water quickly away from
an area. The opposite is true for permaculture practitioners, however, who
□ SHOVEL
typically use this technique to capture and hold water in a landscape
□ PAPER + PENCIL for irrigation. This document will show you how to create the latter type
of swale.
□ A-FRAME LEVEL How to Create a Swale
A permaculture swale consists of a trench dug on
□ MEASURING TAPE Raised Berm
contour, with a berm on the downhill side
Trench
□ SMALL FLAGS FOR that is created with the soil from the
MARKING Hill
trench. The water-holding capacity of
□ ROCKS FOR STABILIZING the swale is determined by the length,
SPILLWAY
width, and depth of the trench. Capturing
□ PERENNIAL PLANTS roof water in a swale is more serious than
capturing water that naturally runs across
the landscape because of the high concen-
LEARN MORE tration of water at one time and in one
WHAT IS A PERMACULTURE
place. However, when you take advantage of
SWALE?
this water as a valuable resource, it will catapult your
HOW TO BUILD A
effort to create a low-maintenance, self-sustaining system.
PERMACULTURE SWALE
Identify an appropriate contour line for the swale before following the
steps below. There are many tools for doing this, but one tool that I like
in particular is the A-frame level. This homemade device is easy to make
and use. This video demonstrates how to build an A-frame level to find
a contour line. Before getting started, identify and mark the contour line
with flags.

On the following pages, you’ll find a quick overview of how to capture

www.TenthAcreFarm.com water from a roof in a swale, as well as a step-by-step guide.

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IMPORTANT

1
 QUICK OVERVIEW

TIP Here’s a quick rundown of the swale building process.

Assess the site before

digging a swale.
Dig a swale trench on the marked contour
line around 12 inches deep, two and a half feet

F IR ST
1 wide, and about 20 feet long. Give the trench
rounded edges, so that it is a half-circle shape
CHOOSE AN and the depth is measured at the deepest
APPROPRIATE SITE point in the center.

Water should
naturally drain
away from the
house as well as all
Direct your downspout into the swale, then
other surrounding
observe during a heavy rain event. A convey-
NEXT

structures (i.e., your

ance trench lined with rocks can direct water
neighbor’s house).
from the downspout into the swale without
causing erosion.

2
CONDUCT AN
INFILTRATION TEST

This confirms that the Preciseness isn’t usually necessary as long

collected water will as you’re not going to flood the house (or a
L AST

infiltrate the soil and neighbor’s house). Make adjustments after

drain well. observing how the swale performs in a heavy
rain. If it overflowed, make the swale trench
NOTE: If the site deeper, wider, or longer.
you’ve chosen fails
either of these criteria,
look for alternative
methods of water
management.

2
 STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

These step-by-step instructions ensure that the water does

what you want it to do. It also allows you to plan ahead for
really big rains.

1
CALCULATE HOW MUCH WATER YOUR
SWALE NEEDS TO HOLD.
Multiply the square footage of the rooftop that feeds the
downspout you’re collecting water from by 0.1 to get the
volume (cubic feet) of water your swale needs to hold in a 1.0”
rain event. (This equation rounds up).
MY EXAMPLE: The total area of my roof is 1200 square feet.
Half of the roof (600 square feet) drains into the downspout
to my front yard. To calculate how much water my roof area
collects:
600 * 0.1 = 60 CUBIC FEET
My swale needs to be large enough to hold 60 cubic
feet of water in a one-inch rain event.
DO YOUR MATH HERE:
Total collection area of your roof = _____ (a)
(a) * 0.1 = _______ volume in cubic feet

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3
 2
IMPORTANT

TIP CALCULATE THE DIMENSIONS OF THE SWALE.

Figure out how deep, wide, and long to make the swale trench
to hold the volume of water that you calculated in step one.
Wider trenches are
easier to dig, observe, LENGTH * WIDTH * DEPTH = CUBIC FEET
and maintain over time, Fill in the equation above with the numbers that are known.
and are more easily For example, if your swale can only be a certain length due to
walkable. property constraints, then you have a known length.
MY EXAMPLE: I’m going to make the trench of my swale a
walkable path, so I want it to be a minimum of two feet wide.
I also want a shallow, one-foot deep trench, to reduce the
amount of digging into heavy clay.
To summarize, my swale needs to hold 60 cubic feet of water
(from step one), be a minimum of two feet wide and just one
foot deep. Now I can use the equation to find out how long the
swale needs to be.
LENGTH? * 2 FEET WIDE * 1 FOOT DEEP = 60 CUBIC FEET
My swale needs to be at least 30 feet long to hold enough
water.

3
SOLVE PROBLEMS.
What if you don’t have the space for the swale dimensions
you’ve calculated? It’s time to play with the numbers.
MY EXAMPLE: I didn’t have space for a 30 foot long swale in
my landscape. So I’m going to explore adjusting the width of
my trench from two to three feet wide.
Return to the equation:
LENGTH? * 3 FEET WIDE * 1 FOOT DEEP = 60 CUBIC FEET
I can build a 20-foot long swale if I increase the width of my
trench to three feet.

4
 4 IMPORTANT

DIG AND TEST. TIP

Now it’s time to do the hard work. Dig the trench along the
indicated contour line, creating a berm on the downhill side Water needs to drain
with the soil. Use the A-frame tool again to test the bottom of within 48 hours to avoid
the trench to be sure it is level. Make corrections so that the mosquitoes and other
trench is dead level. problems associated
Next, observe how the swale handles a hard rain. Did it fill to with standing water.
capacity or overflow? It’s essential to build in redundancy so To avoid this conduct
that the system can handle a 100-year rain event (i.e., a big, an infiltration test
big rain). before digging.
If drainage is an issue, a
5 swale might not be the
right solution for you.
DIRECT THE OVERFLOW.
In this exercise you calculated the capacity of a swale to hold
water from a roof in a one-inch rain event. This is important,
but there is always the potential for bigger rains.
During a rainy period, you may be asking your swale to handle
several, back-to-back one-inch rains. You don’t want to risk
blowing out your swale berm or flooding a building as water
forcibly exits. Therefore, you need a planned overflow.
Where do you want the water to go when the trench fills to
capacity? Be proactive and direct it to where you want it.
There are many options for directing the overflow. You could
direct it into a nearby rain garden, another swale, a pond, or,
if necessary, toward a storm drain.
MY EXAMPLE: I directed the overflow of my swale into a
rain garden. Using the calculations in the previous steps, I
constructed it to have the same water-holding capacity as
the swale. My rectangular rain garden is about eight feet
wide by eight feet long and one foot deep. This means that
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my front yard garden can potentially collect about 120 cubic
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feet of water, 60 cubic feet each in both the swale and the
rain garden.

5
 IMPORTANT How to Construct a Rain Garden
TIP Plant deep-rooted native plants or edibles

PERENNIAL
PLANTINGS FOR
YOUR SWALE
Water Source
Asparagus
Cranberry
Deep-rooted prairie
plants
Dig down 12 inches
Create berm
Elderberry
Fruit Trees
Red Raspberry
Rhubarb
Spicebush
Strawberries
6
CALCULATE THE SPILLWAY.
A spillway is a notch in the berm of the swale where excess
water can escape. It is what directs the excess water to your
second holding area (or toward the storm drain).
The notch should be about one-third the height of the berm.
For example, if your berm is 12 inches high, the spillway is a
notch through the berm, about four inches below the top.
The spillway is twice as wide as your berm is high, so for a
12-inch high berm, the spillway will be 24 inches wide. Line
the spillway with rock to stabilize it and reduce erosion from
fast-moving water.
(Source: Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond , Volume 2, by
Brad Lancaster)

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 7 HERE’S WHAT TO DO

PLANT THE SWALE TO COMPLETE THE SYSTEM.

Once you’re satisfied with your swale’s performance through
NEXT
a couple of hard rains, it’s time to plant. In permaculture, we
seek solutions that restore the ecology of the space to its
1
fullest potential. Perennial plantings establish a permanent
root system, stabilizing the swale. Read more about
I planted my front yard swale with strawberries, and my rain managing water in
garden with deep-rooted prairie plants. the landscape at
TenthAcreFarm.com
The berm is typically where you will establish your perennial
plants. However, in a desert climate, consider planting directly
in the trench where scarce water collects.
Sow a cover crop of clovers, lupines, and other legumes in the 2
un-planted parts to prevent erosion and establish a ground
cover ecology. Follow
@TENTHACREFARM on
This swale system, which includes a trench on contour and
Facebook or Instagram
a planted berm, accumulates seeds, soil, and organic matter
that might have otherwise washed away.

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SUMMARY
Send me a message :
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As you can see, digging a swale to capture water from a roof
is a great way to recycle free water for irrigation. These steps
will help you create an appropriately sized swale for your
garden or landscape.

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