Keyline design

For the graphics design term, see Keyline.

A keyline irrigation channel

Keyline design is a technique for maximizing beneficial use of water resources of a piece of land. The Keyline refers to a specific topographic feature linked to water flow. Beyond that however, Keyline can be seen as a collection of design principles, techniques and systems for development of rural and urban landscapes.

Keyline design was developed in Australia by farmer and engineer P. A. Yeomans, and described and explained in his books The Keyline Plan, The Challenge of Landscape, Water For Every Farm, and The City Forest.

Application

P. A. Yeomans published the first book on Keyline in 1954. Yeomans described a system of amplified contour ripping to control rainfall runoff and enable fast flood irrigation of undulating land without the need for terracing.

Keyline designs include irrigation dams equipped with through-the-wall lockpipe systems to gravity feed irrigation, stock water, and yard water. Graded earth channels may be interlinked to broaden the catchment areas of high dams, conserve the height of water, and transfer rainfall runoff into the most efficient high dam sites. Roads follow both ridge lines and water channels to provide easier movement across the land.

Keyline Scale of Permanence

The foundation of Yeomans' Keyline design system is the Keyline Scale of Permanence (KSOP), which was the outcome of 15 years of adaptive experimentation. The Scale identifies the environmental elements of typical farms and orders them according to their degree of permanence as follows:

• Climate
• Landshape (topography)
• Water supply
• Roads and means of access
• Trees
• Structures (edifices)
• Subdivisional fences
• Soil

Keyline design considers these elements in planning the placement of water storage features, roads, trees, edifices, and fences. On undulating land, keyline design involves identifying ridges, valleys, and natural water courses and designing with them in mind in order to optimize water storage sites. Constructing interconnecting channels may be part of such optimization.

The identified natural water lines delineate the possible locations for the various less permanent elements, e. g. roads, fences, trees, and edifices, which if so located would help optimize the natural potential of the land in question.

Rancho San Ricardo, México

Keypoint

In a smooth grassy valley, a location called the keypoint can be found where the lower and flatter portion of a primary valley floor suddenly steepens. The keyline of this primary valley is revealed by pegging a contour line through the keypoint, within the valley shape. All the points on the line are at the same elevation as the keypoint. Contour plowing parallel to the Keyline, both above and below will automatically become "off-contour" but the developing pattern will tend to drift rainwater runoff away from the valley centre and incidentally, prevent erosion.

Keyline pattern cultivation on ridge shapes is done parallel to any suitable contour but only working on the upper side of the contour guide line. This automatically develops a pattern of off-contour cultivation in which all the rip marks left in the soil will slope down towards the centre of the ridge shape. This pattern of cultivation allows more time for water to soak in. Keyline pattern cultivation also enables controlled flood irrigation of undulating land, which further assists in the fast development of deep biologically fertile soil, which results in improving soil nutrition and health.

In many countries, including Australia, it is important to get optimum absorption of rainfall and keyline cultivation does this as well as delaying the potentially damaging concentration of runoff. Yeomans' technique differs from traditional contour plowing in several important respects. Random contour plowing also becomes off contour but usually with the opposite effect on runoff water causing it to quickly shed off ridge shapes and be concentrated in valleys. The limitations of the traditional system of soil conservation, with its "safe disposal" approach to farm water was an important motivational factor in the development of the keyline system.

Applications

David Holmgren, one of the founders of Permaculture, used Yeoman's keyline principle extensively in the formulation of Permaculture concepts and the design of sustainable human settlements and organic farms.

Darren J. Doherty has extensive experience across the world in keyline project design, development, management & training, and is using Keyline as the basis for his Regrarians framework, which he considers an update and synthesis of Permaculture, Holistic Management, Keyline Design and several other innovative human ecology frameworks into a coherent process-based toolkit for the design and management of regenerative economies.

A topographical example can be seen on (37.159154°S 144.252248°E / -37.159154; 144.252248).

Keyline also includes concepts for rapid soil fertility enhancement and these concepts are explored in Priority One by P. A. Yeomans' son Allan. Yeomans and his sons were also instrumental in the design and production of special plows and cultivating equipment for use in conjunction with the keyline methodology.

See also

Conservation biology Conservation ethic Conservation movement Ecology Environmentalism

Environmental protection Habitat conservation Natural environment Natural capital Natural resource

Renewable resource Sustainable agriculture Sustainability Water conservation Soil salination

References

Notations

• Yeomans, P.A. (1954). The Keyline Plan (Free online). OCLC 21106239.
• Yeomans, P.A. (1958). The Challenge of Landscape : the development and practice of keyline (Free online). Sydney NSW: Keyline. OCLC 10466838.
• Yeomans, P.A. (1973). Water for Every Farm: A practical irrigation plan for every Australian property. Sydney NSW: K.G. Murray. ISBN 0-646-12954-6. ISBN 0-909325-29-4.
• Yeomans, P.A. (1971). The City Forest (Free online). Keyline. ISBN 0-9599578-0-4. OCLC 515050.
• Yeomans, P.A.; Yeomans, K.B. (1993). Water for Every Farm — Yeomans Keyline Plan. Keyline Designs. ISBN 0646129546. 2002 ISBN 0646418750
• Yeomans, P.A.; Yeomans, K.B. (2008). Water for Every Farm — Yeomans Keyline Plan. Keyline Designs. ISBN 1438225784. {{cite book}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
• Yeomans, A. (2005). Priority One: Together we Can Beat Global Warming. Keyline. ISBN 0-646-43805-0. Archived from the original (Online) on 2013-07-29. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• MacDonald-Holmes, J. "Geographical and Topographical Basis of Keyline". Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Spencer, L (2006). "Keyline and Fertile Futures". Archived from the original on December 9, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)