Next in the series I show the finished swale with dam. I talk about the water levels and the importance of the spillway. I show how to lay out your water lines for putting the topsoil back. I then show the installation of the culverts going under the road.

Next up in this series I build the swale to push some better clay into the keyway under the dam. I discuss how to keep your survey flags in place while digging the pond, the importance of freeboard and having a properly designed spillway. Then the dam wall begins to take shape.

    This series will document the explanation, layout and installation of a backflood swale attached to a dam with a road crossing the swale with culverts under the road.
    A backflood swale is a rain water harvesting earthwork on contour which is attached to a dam and is used to divert water from a catchment area to a dam and to move water from the dam across landscape. It is useful to increase the catchment area that feeds a dam and can be used to put the spillway farther from the dam.
    A backflood swale fit into my design because I wanted to hold more water up higher in my pasture and I needed an access road to run close to the dam so I had to find a different location for the spillway.