Repairing eroded and incised waterways, with Van Clothier
In today\u2019s episode I spoke with Van Clothier about an innovative and subtle water erosion mitigation technique, and how to build a one rock dam.\nI know this might seem oddly specific, but after an interview with Brad Lancaster last season, he talked about how he\u2019s been learning from people like Van and his mentor Bill Zeedyk about smaller, less intrusive interventions that can have profound effects on the health of a watershed.\nThe truth is that there are so few watersheds and water bodies left around the world that aren\u2019t highly degraded and in need of restoration.\nMany of the communities most affected by this damage don\u2019t have the resources to hire engineers and professionals to do survey and undertake large expensive restoration projects.\nA lot of what Van promotes flies in the face of these large professional technical projects and teaches people how to understand their watersheds and identify the small and gradual work that can be done to improve their health.\nThe one rock dam is a great example of this and so today we\u2019ll be exploring what it is, how it can be installed, and most importantly, how to educate yourself on how to interact and intervene in a damaged waterway in an effective way that doesn\u2019t cause further damage in the long run, like many of these big professional projects do.\xa0\nSo a little background information.\xa0\nVan Clothier\u2019s firm, Stream Dynamics, Inc., specializes in turning runoff and erosion problems into water harvesting opportunities with water harvesting earthworks, urban stormwater retrofits, and riparian and wetland restoration in both urban and wildland settings.\nVan has worked extensively in New Mexico and Arizona on a variety of restoration projects with regional drylands stream restoration and water harvesting experts including Bill Zeedyk, and Brad Lancaster. He is the co-author with Bill Zeedyk of the book Let the Water Do the Work: Induced Meandering, an Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels,\xa0\nRecent projects include designing water harvesting stormwater retrofits for the City of Santa Fe, and restoring a very large ci\xe9nega (desert marsh) in the bootheel of New Mexico.