Here is the last vegetable garden we planted. I don't remember what year it was, probably 2000, but may have been a year later.
Here's the elevated, flood-proof cabin.
Below is water going over the middle dam. We eventually built a third dam but it's not a diversion dam like the first two. It just backs water up so the arroyo vegetation gets a good soaking before the runoff seeps into the ground. My hope was that it would improve the underground water table, but so far that hasn't happened.
Here are my man-made rock sculptures around the stucco tank.
If you try enough things, some will work; some, not so much. Somewhere along the way we built a greenhouse. (Eventually, after Sherwood died, I had Hugh remove it). It was an eyesore taking away from bird viewing and ambiance, beside I didn't use it much. It attracted too many snakes, aphids, and thrips. Sealing it wasn't feasible.
(The two stone cabins are used for storage.)
The year 2000 stands out as the year of the big flood. On June 17th a round black cloud scooted across the sky from the southeast at an alarming rate of speed. The weather channel mentioned a storm cell in South Brewster County. What it didn't mention was that I was to be the only recipient. Water washed over the levee that channels water to the middle dam. Everything was under water. The lower dam sounded like Niagara Falls. Here are a few photos from that short period of time, but first, here's what the lower dam looks like during a normal rain. The center of the dam is about 4 feet lower than the edges.
Here is how the "Niagara Falls" event looked that day. I don't know how much rain we actually got because hail broke my rain gauge that day, but you can plainly see that at least 4 feet of water has to be going over the center of the dam in order for water to be at the edges.
Here it is topping the levees, which we built up higher after that.
Below foreground is the levee. Center is the actual middle dam.
The below area is my "pine forest."
