GuidePart III: Water: Our Primary Crop

Knowing When to Let Water Leave

The exceptionally wet winter of 2026 reinforced an important lesson: once soil is saturated, additional water must have somewhere safe to go. Good stewardship means designing for both retention and safe overflow.

Water stewardship is not simply about capturing everything.

The exceptionally wet winter of 2026 reinforced this lesson. Eventually soil becomes saturated. Once that point is reached, additional water must have somewhere safe to go. Uncontrolled water can undermine terraces, erode valuable topsoil, damage infrastructure and alter entire slopes.

  • Know when to slow water.
  • Know when to spread it.
  • Know when to infiltrate it.
  • Know when to store it.
  • Know when to allow excess water to leave safely.

Water should be treated neither as friend nor enemy. It is a powerful natural force that must be understood. Too little creates drought. Too much can create destruction. Resilience requires preparation for both.