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Plan erosion control, swales and terraces

Decide how to keep soil in place during and after construction, and where slow-water features like swales or terraces make sense for the garden and food systems.

How

1. Identify bare and steep areas that will be disturbed by roads, house pad and trenches.
2. Plan to keep topsoil: strip it and stockpile it away from drainage lines, then reuse it.
3. Plan temporary controls to install before earthworks: silt fences or straw wattles along contours below disturbed ground, and stabilised construction entrances.
4. Consider swales (level ditches on contour that let water soak in) only on stable, permeable soils and gentle slopes, never above septic fields, foundations or unstable slopes, because they add water to the ground.
5. On steeper ground used for growing, consider terraces, but get engineering advice on high or steep cuts.
6. Plan permanent cover: reseed or plant all disturbed ground as soon as works finish.

Safety: Adding water to the ground on slopes can trigger slips. Do not build swales on landslide-prone ground.

Do these first

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Sources

1. Site and Soil Evaluation for Onsite Wastewater Systems (MF2645). Kansas State University Research and Extension, accessed 2026-11
2. What is a landslide hazard map?. US Geological Survey, accessed 2026-11
3. U.S. Landslide Inventory and Susceptibility Map. US Geological Survey, accessed 2026-11
4. Low-Volume Roads Engineering Best Management Practices, Chapter 5: Hydrologic Analysis. USDA Forest Service, accessed 2026-11

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