Top 100 methods to restore the water cycle
Project Drawdown found the top 100 ways to drawdown carbon. We would like to do what Project Drawdown did for the carbon cycle, for the water cycle.
We open-sourced from people what they thought were good ideas for restoring the water cycle, and then organized it into a list with subgroups. We are currently still in the iteration phase of this list. Here is version 2.0 of the list. It will also be accompanied with a set of principles for how to use the methods.
TOP 100 WAYS TO RESTORE THE WATER CYCLE:
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1. PLANT MATTER/ FUNGI / BACTERIA
i) PLANTING VEGETATION- Planting vegetation that helps guide water into soil, helps evaporate water into sky, help soil health. Mycelia can help funnel water to different plants
ii) DEAD BIOMASS- dead vegetation and compost can help create healthier soil, placing dead branches and leaves in path of downhill rainfall
iii) REPLACING PLANTS: replace almonds, salt-cedar etc with something less water-hungry (preferably indigenous plants).
iv) ORGANIC CLOUDSEEDING: i) ice-nucleating bacteria, fungi spores, pollen, gas-releasing algae ( plants and fungi naturally release microorganisms into sky that seed rain). ii) Reduce dust and pollution haze-seeding.
2. HEALTHY SOILS: crop rotation, mulching, non-tilling, mycelia, compost teas, worm farming, animal poop, biodigesters, reusing sediment in one area for another
3. EARTHWORKS: swales, weirs, small ponds, terracing, key line system, rocks, guiding downhill rainfall to seep into ground replenishing, gabions, zuni waffle garden
4. ANIMAL ENGINEERS: beavers, prarie dogs, cattle, earthworms, mussels, dung beetles, wild donkeys
5. MANMADE STRUCTURES:
i)UNDOING STRUCTURES : undoing dams, concrete riverbanks, hydropower stations ;depaving certain parking lots and roads, de-piping aqueducts that transport water to cities
ii) STRUCTURES : greywater, fog nets, rain barrels, qanat
6. URBAN: green rooftops, community food forests, curb-cuts, in-street water-harvesting, eddy basins, rainwater gardens, rain barrels, disconnect downspouts, downspouts to rain tanks, downspouts into soil, permeable concrete, depaving certain parking lots and roads, flood bioswales, stormwater catchment into soil & aquifers, wetlands to cleanse stormwater then guide it into aquifers below to store, with wells to bring up water stored, underground dust/soot pollution reduction,
7. SEWAGE: Compost toilets. Pee in nature. Greywater systems. Blackwater systems. Biochar, wetlands, wood chips, microbes, mussels, sequence of plants in drum tanks (Living Machine)
8. RESTORATION : restoring wetlands, coastal ecosystems, oceans, floodplains, mountains.
Project Drawdown calculated a lot of possible solutions, and then ordered them by impact and/or cost, and explained the best 100.
That (possible) impact and cost (time, material, number of people etc ...) would be very cool indicators for each measure. I assume it's not easy to calculate.
But each measure to fix the water cycle is very location specific with its impact.
You have wet climates, dry climates, normal climates, dry climates with too much rain at once, dry climates with no rain at all, close to the sea, close to lake, etc ...
Then the items in your landscape: agricultural fields, prairies, forests, streams, valleys, deserts, rocky areas, etc ...
All of these will filter out certain solutions. Some are highlighted with bigger effects, some are not possible for that situation.
Not every area has the same (native) animal population to maintain & regenerate the systems as well.
Maybe if we order them a bit context related it is easier for people to understand what measures could be implemented.
Eg. A categorization based upon: city, urban, rivers, small streams, prairies, veggie production, forests, roads, etc ...
A lot of solutions will de "duplicated" in multiple categories, but it seems like a more natural way to get a better idea of what you can do to fix your water cycle problem on a part of the landscape you can control. Many of the solutions can't be kept separate as well (fungi & bacteria without vegetation, dead biomass, etc ...)
I would think more in a design system (how permaculture is supposed to work) then in how it currently is practiced a lot (want things of interest in the system, before realizing why or the pros/cons in your context). (eg. people want a swale, start to really search deep in it, but then only much later find out it is not suitable for their land, and has no real use in it).
A calculated impact would be nice.
If you can show the almond farmer how he can rehydrate his property in different ways, so he understands the costs/savings potential and how his future production will look like, then you have a big win I think.
(cover crops, extra cash crops, diversity, different cash trees, reduce pesticides, fix natural nutrient system, create wet areas, create water storage, help fixing waterways upstream (more averaged water availability), etc ...)