Removing drainage systems
By removing drainage systems, rainwater and groundwater flow less quickly into the stream. This reduces the height of flood peaks and alleviates the impact of drought.
The impact
Naturally, much of the land in the stream valleys, and locally also on the slopes, is quite wet. This is often because rainwater cannot drain away properly. This is due to the presence of a poorly permeable layer in the subsoil. In summer, these soils dry out gradually. Other soils (‘spring meadows’) are permanently wet due to the presence of natural springs. Here, seeping groundwater causes waterlogging all year round.
To make the wet plots more suitable for agriculture, they were often drained in the past using ditches, straightened spring streams and/or underground drainage pipes. These accelerate the flow of water to the stream.
By filling in or deepening ditches and removing or rendering drainage pipes inoperable, this accelerated drainage is halted. Through the restoration of wet grasslands and the extensification of land use, scrubland and natural grasslands naturally develop, which help to allow water to infiltrate and slow down once again.
Natural solutions
- Developing natural grasslands
- Developing natural forests
- Food forest
- Making space for beaver activity
- Making room for natural floodplains
- Making room for meandering
- Raising the stream bed
- Lowering banks
- Removing drainage systems
- Planting scrub hedges and copses
- Standard orchard
- Wide infiltration strip
- Grafts
- Swales
- Keylines
- Converting (maize) fields on slopes into grassland or woodland
- Wadi
- Intercepting runoff on (sunken) roads