what is a swale

Swales as used in permaculture are designed to slow and capture runoff by spreading it horizontally across the landscape (along an elevation contour line), facilitating runoff infiltration into the soil. This type of swale is created by digging a ditch on contour and piling the dirt on the downhill side of the ditch to create a berm. Delivered to your inbox! Grassed Swales A grassed swale is a graded and engineered landscape feature appearing as a linear, shallow, open channel with trapezoidal or parabolic shape. Q: Recently, my neighbor made a swale through his land to gather rainwater or melting snow from his land. Swales in the garden provide excellent storage spaces for water while also cleaning and dispersing it. Plants suck up the water along a swale’s gently sloping banks and sometimes down the center of the channel. Only a few years into my permaculture career, I have certainly been guilty of this, and I have distinct memories of mistakes I made with regards to both attempting to construct swales and putting … Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for swale, Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about swale. Learn a new word every day. A daily challenge for crossword fanatics. In this context it is usually a water-harvesting ditch on contour, also called a contour bund.[3][4]. Having a swale also provides a place for the water to go, rather than flooding private property. A swale is a shady spot, or a sunken or marshy place. A swale is a sort of ditch, which is dug ‘on contour’, to catch the rainwater before it runs away, and soak it into the soil. In simple terms, they are generally shallow ditches that have gently sloping sides. Swale, borough (district), administrative and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. swale (noun) A depression in the ground that carries water runoff. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Artificial swales are often infiltration basins, designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration. Definition of swale Categorized under "General"Definition as written by Greenwood: A low tract of land, especially when moist or marshy. All points along a contour line are exactly the same height above sea level. A Swale Defined. Gravel works but is costly, and you have to haul it up to the swale. 1998). The more water that is soaked into the soil, the less supplemental water is needed to water what is growing in the soil. Because swales convey water by gravity flow, it is common to see swales throughout Lee County with water within them. Find more ways to say swale, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Swale is defined as a narrow or shallow piece of land. Swale definition is - a low-lying or depressed and often wet stretch of land; also : a shallow depression on a golf course. Swales are linear grass covered depressions which lead surface water overland from the drained surface to a storage or discharge system, typically using road verges. It provides temporary storage for … Such a swale may be either natural or man-made. A drainage swale is often also referred to as a ditch or a grass channel and is located in open grass areas or along the side of a road or driveway. A swale’s regulating function is enhanced by the processes of evaporation, infiltration into the surrounding soil and transpiration. Figure out a way to keep water from flowing there, such as by extending gutter downspouts or by building a, Maslo and her team are softening the hard curvature of the, Upon impact, the Cobalt was propelled upright at a near 90-degree angle before falling onto a roadside. Artificial swales are often infiltration basins, designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration. Unlike a conventional ditch, a swale is shallow and relatively wide. Chambers Dictionary, Edinburgh, 1998, p. 1668. If periods of exceptionally heavy rain are anticipated, overflows can be created to link to watercourses , storage ponds or wetlands . swale. As verbs the difference between ditch and swale is that ditch is or ditch can be to discard or abandon while swale is (melt and waste away, or singe). The purpose is to slow and control the flow of water to prevent flooding, puddling, and erosion and/or avoid overwhelming the storm drain system. If … These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swale.' Begin filling the swale. Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England and is bounded by Medway to the west, Canterbury to the east, Ashford to the south and Maidstone to the south west. “Swale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swale. Swale borough includes the Isle of Sheppey, 9 miles (14 km) long and 4 miles (6 km) wide, to the north. Mark the contour line. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. Berms are the raised sides of a swale that contain filtering vegetation and porous soil.

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