"Swales & Berms"
Local Permaculturists Kate Heiber-Cobb, Ry Thompson and Brad Kaellner will be teaching and leading this one day only workshop on Sustainable Water Design on Sunday April 26th.

9:30 - 11 am: Classroom portion of workshop at East Madison/Monona Coalition of the Aging at 4142 Monona Dr.

11:30- 3:30: Hands-on Learning creating swales and berms with community garden plots being situated on berm for sustainable water.

Where: Monona's St. Stephens Community Garden at 5700 Pheasant Hill Rd. in Monona.

$20 covers the whole day.

*Please bring a bag lunch and snacks for yourself. Also plenty of water. We will have some extra of that. Tools needed for workshop are shovels, spades, mattocks, work gloves, wheel barrows, carts and other earthworks tools. If you don't have tools, don't worry, we'll have some to spare.

To sign up for this hands on workshop please call or email
Kate at 608-213-2230 or seventhheaven@mailbag.com
What's a Swale?
Swales are simply shallow, low depressions in the ground designed to encourage the accumulation of rain during storms and hold it for a few hours or days to let it infiltrate into the soil. Ideally swales help cleanse the water as it percolates down. Swales can be installed separately or as part of a larger water rain catchment system with rain gardens, cisterns and other water conservation measures.
Swales are one of the cheapest and easiest water storage methods and can be installed almost anywhere. If properly built they greatly reduce storm runoff; thereby reducing the impact of storms on local storm runoff systems.
What's a Berm?
Berms are raised beds that can be used to direct water to swales. They are the equivalent of the slope in road used to push water off the middle of the road toward the curbs.
Ideally, berms and swales should be designed into the landscape where there is any noticeable slope to slow and capture runoff. They can be part of the site plan for an individual home or integrated into the design of an entire multi-unit complex or subdivision development.