How This Woman Turned Arizona's Desert into a Farmland Oasis

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  • Опубліковано 17 лип 2022
  • Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. This climate has meant the region has been a hub for agricultural growth for thousands of years despite the fact rainfall has always been relatively low. It's Arizona's rivers and aquifers that hold groundwater which have supported the state’s now $23 billion agriculture industry. In terms of revenue generated, Arizona's top five agricultural products are cattle, calves, lettuce, dairy products, cotton, and hay. In total, farmland makes up about 35% of the state of Arizona. Farming in the desert has been a challenge for Arizona’s modern farmers, who grow water-intensive crops like cotton, alfalfa and corn for cows. It's estimated that these farms use nearly three-quarters of the available water supply to irrigate their crops.
    The Colorado River system, which supplies 36 percent of Arizona's total water use has experienced extensive drought conditions for the past 19 years. This has resulted in Lake Mead dropping to historically low reservoir levels. More than one-third of Arizona’s water flows up the Colorado River to Lake Mead. This year an intensifying drought and declining reservoir levels across the Western United States has prompted the first-ever water supply cuts to Arizona farmers.
    Extensive droughts and dwindling water supplies have wreaked havoc on the once prosperous farms that could endure the arid conditions. Arizona has also become one the fastest growing states in the last decade, as result there has been a demand for tree lined neighborhoods, golf courses and lawns, all of which require vast amounts of water. As we keep consuming the ancient groundwater, without it being replenished, water tables drop and rivers start to dry up.
    However over the last 30 years Arizona has been turning this around, in this video we will show you how a low cost innovative water retention system is being used in the desert, turning the dry landscape into a fertile carbon sink stretching over 100,000 acres and we will show you how this system is recharging the aquifers, by improving water retention by at least 28% which has helped to increase biodiversity, turning the desert back into a farmland oasis. Thanks to Valer Clark Austin and Josiah Austin restoring the watershed in the Chiricahua Desert in Arizona and Mexico.
    You can find out more by visiting www.cuencalosojos.org
    Curtesy of USGS: • Can rock dams reverse ...
    Curtesy of John Kurc: www.daxwax.com
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 914

  • @LeafofLifeWorld
    @LeafofLifeWorld  Рік тому +116

    🔔 Subscribe to youtube.com/@LeafofLifeMusicOfficial
    🌳 Support our projects to restore degraded land and regenerate natural ecosystems: www.leafoflife.news/
    🎥 Support our video work, helping us to improve our videos, upgrade our equipment & share more informative videos like this one here: www.patreon.com/leafoflifefilms
    The results of restoring a watershed are astonishing!!! 💦🌿 What do you think, do we need more of this?
    Find out more about Dr Norman's research for USGC in this video here ua-cam.com/video/c2tYI7jUdU0/v-deo.html

    • @gregmower7605
      @gregmower7605 Рік тому +3

      I think that the rock dams are a good idea to create pools and planting trees would create a starter habitat to introduce beavers. Nature’s engineers would increase water detention and retention thereby creating even more habitat.

    • @yepwhocares3541
      @yepwhocares3541 Рік тому

      Just the beginning. ua-cam.com/video/KSDJ8h4oWxY/v-deo.html

    • @ULlisting
      @ULlisting Рік тому +4

      This is wonderful and should be extended to the entire state. Similar water harvesting techniques are being used in India, Australia, Ethiopia and other parts of the world. With the planet drying up, water will only become more valuable.

    • @PabloPerez-cn5hw
      @PabloPerez-cn5hw Рік тому

      NAWAPA

    • @c.d.porter9366
      @c.d.porter9366 Рік тому +2

      What is astonishing is that you are not concerned about feeding people but rather habitat organization. You do know that the groceries you buy in the store come from agriculture/farming...I guess.

  • @mrow7598
    @mrow7598 Рік тому +619

    There was a bunch of farms in Australia who ripped out trees and shrubs because it was believed that they just sucked up all the water. The land got drier as a result. One farmer went against the trend and put all those trees and shrubs back in and his farm flourished. The government was trying to force him to rip up all the plants he planted because they believed they knew better. Other farmers looked at his farm and started doing the same thing and their farms flourished too. Only until the government sold the land out from under him for a strip mine did the farmer fail.

    • @LeafofLifeWorld
      @LeafofLifeWorld  Рік тому +88

      Omg I thought this is such a positive story only to see an unhappy ending 😢

    • @VK-qo1gm
      @VK-qo1gm 9 місяців тому +37

      Peter Andrews

    • @mr.hemlock1900
      @mr.hemlock1900 9 місяців тому +22

      Government knows best. Obviously

    • @prestoneage
      @prestoneage 9 місяців тому +35

      *Armored Tractor enters the chat*

    • @b_uppy
      @b_uppy 9 місяців тому +20

      Peter Andrews was brilliant in his approach.

  • @GeorgiaAlbert
    @GeorgiaAlbert Рік тому +227

    To make a desert bloom is to add water. Here in the United State of Nevada,. a desert State, we have a species of Beaver, an aquatic mammal that build dams. Nevada's Beavers build dams in streams that had regularly dried up in the dry season, and they transform the area into a lush desert oasis with trees and sweet water flowing year round. Maybe our Beavers can transform the dried up streams in Austrailia, China, Mongolia, and the Sahara to help reverse desertification. Beaver ponds sustain fish, wildlife, and can provide irrigation water. and water for livestock. The Beaver dams slow the water flow so the water can be absorbed by the land. Beavers work for no wages. They will build you fantastic dams, plus do all the maintenance, and all you have to do is keep the Beaver safe and happy.

    • @GeorgiaAlbert
      @GeorgiaAlbert Рік тому +3

      This post was made over 2 years ago at an Australian site, and a couple of sites in the Americas.

    • @HannahRoot55
      @HannahRoot55 Рік тому

      @@GeorgiaAlbert hi 👋

    • @messagesystem333
      @messagesystem333 9 місяців тому +16

      Chinese would just eat them.

    • @Eurydice870
      @Eurydice870 9 місяців тому

      You need to do more reseach. Land regeneration is a global movement. The United States is behind, our farming practixes and processed foods are toxic. The extermination of beaver caused the Dust Bowl, today's tragedy came to the Americas with Europeans.

    • @txDDS
      @txDDS 9 місяців тому +9

      Kung Pow Beaver. Fyi, As a Canadian, and therefore a beaver expert, I can safely say that beavers don't dig the desert.

  • @ainabearfarm8075
    @ainabearfarm8075 Рік тому +348

    Glad to see people like this being celebrated and respect being given to the ancient wisdom of indigenous peoples. The way forward is looking back. 🤙

    • @cliffterrell4876
      @cliffterrell4876 Рік тому

      It's bullshit. The acreage doesn't add up.

    • @atomictraveller
      @atomictraveller Рік тому

      you understand this is total bullshit. it starts with "southern arizona" and shows northern arizona.
      the ground water in arizona is disappearing faster than shit. you move here to farm, you will go broke.

    • @ainabearfarm8075
      @ainabearfarm8075 Рік тому +4

      @@atomictraveller using stock footage for videos like this is pretty typical and in this case I don’t think it detracts from the point. Nor is the point to convince people to move to Arizona to farm. Rather, this just simply celebrates people who already live there trying to do something good for the ecosystem and it uses a little flash to get people to tune in. They may be exaggerating the outcome, but this doesn’t erase the good that people are trying to accomplish. There’s already enough bad news in the world; I don’t think we need to bash the little good we get. The big hope is that more people will be inspired to join these more thoughtful practices of stewardship.

    • @atomictraveller
      @atomictraveller Рік тому +1

      @@ainabearfarm8075 you understand the positives, but i don't think you are aware of the state of the negatives. read the local stories.

    • @ainabearfarm8075
      @ainabearfarm8075 Рік тому +4

      @@atomictraveller I certainly understand the negatives; we are bombarded with news about them nonstop. It’s also pretty easy to understand how decades of unsustainable practices would lead to dire circumstances. It’s just a matter of how you choose to deal with it. You can constantly point out how screwed we are or you can get to work trying to make it better. You can do both, I’m just saying the former already has a lot of coverage so why not celebrate the people trying to do better and those who want to share their stories?

  • @evilchaperone
    @evilchaperone Рік тому +269

    Absolutely beautiful native American farming practices. The corn provide a stalk for the beans. The beans provided nitrogen to the soil, and the squash provided ground cover for the soil. That's coming back into practice in large commercial farms. Laying two crops at the same time. One for ground cover and one for an addional crop. That way you can get twice the yield with the same amount of water, fuel and fertilizer. The natives had that down to a science hundreds of years ago.

    • @JosephOntime
      @JosephOntime Рік тому

      @Robocrop extinct?

    • @MrVillabolo
      @MrVillabolo Рік тому +21

      This is known as the 'Three Sisters' arrangement. I had a three-sister garden located in Southern California during summer. The corn did well; the beans were an absolute failure; the squash did pretty good.
      I don't know how it could be commercial though. Each plant requires a distinct method of harvesting. You can't just run a combine over three distinct crops mingled together in one area. It's all done by hand.

    • @evilchaperone
      @evilchaperone Рік тому +2

      @@MrVillabolo I saw a video of a farmer in Michigan or Minnesota. It's called "multicropping".

    • @SWEAR2CARE
      @SWEAR2CARE Рік тому

      @Robocrop pull back your shoulders and look up dammit. because.WHERE YOU IS WHERE YOU GO.

    • @lampyrisnoctiluca9904
      @lampyrisnoctiluca9904 Рік тому +4

      yeah, the three sisters! i even heard that in some communities there were 4 sisters, with the fourth plant being an insect repellent to protect the other 3 from being eaten.

  • @stonew1927
    @stonew1927 Рік тому +182

    That's wonderful. Such simple technology.... In the dry Serengeti of East Africa they are employing a method of digging depression holes at regular intervals to hold the water. It's making a difference as more plants and animals are returning to these areas. These old traditional technologies are often simple and the most effective.

    • @timothyblazer1749
      @timothyblazer1749 Рік тому +6

      Water lenses are amazingly effective. I'm glad to hear this!

    • @evilchaperone
      @evilchaperone Рік тому +16

      In India too. They have a project called "the water cup". Where villages try to out do each other by building swails and other water collecting techniques. Some of the transformations are just miraculous.

    • @stonew1927
      @stonew1927 Рік тому +9

      @@evilchaperone Yes, I saw a another video about a project in Rajasthan, India as well.

    • @Few_Thousand_People
      @Few_Thousand_People 9 місяців тому +3

      @@stonew1927 these are millennia old techniques, well documented in Sanskrit. It is pious to get wells, ponds and step-wells dug.

    • @stonew1927
      @stonew1927 9 місяців тому +1

      @@Few_Thousand_People Nice. Thanks for sharing . . .

  • @KJSvitko
    @KJSvitko Рік тому +209

    Every home and business should have a rain water collection and storage system.
    The little rain that does fall should not be wasted. We must live in harmony with nature and the environment.

    • @kittimcconnell2633
      @kittimcconnell2633 Рік тому +1

      Good idea!

    • @jessegreywolf
      @jessegreywolf Рік тому +26

      In many places in north america it is a by-law violation to collect and store rain water

    • @tcornis
      @tcornis Рік тому +24

      That will stop the aquifiers from refilling

    • @Gracia144JesusSaves
      @Gracia144JesusSaves Рік тому

      I say so well said 📯💪

    • @HeyYoFabels
      @HeyYoFabels Рік тому +9

      @@jessegreywolf WRONG, only 2 states have any laws against it. Most states encourage rain collection, California gives a rebate for rain collection systems

  • @alanm6454
    @alanm6454 7 місяців тому +17

    I am in awe of these people who have the vision, the patience and the tenacity to see a project like this through to fruition. The world, in general, should listen and take note as a lot of our self made problems could be resolved without conflict or high cost. Absolutely brilliant.

    • @dZorroIII
      @dZorroIII 4 місяці тому

      Thats how you know the conflict and confusion is engineered by design.
      We can advance so many things. We can stop the world for the sniffles.
      Yet they cant get these basic old lessons together. Anything that would truly free and empower you, they bury, dismiss, deflect and hide. Your misfortune keeps them employed.

    • @berndtherrenvolk1951
      @berndtherrenvolk1951 18 днів тому

      @@dZorroIIIWell . . . SOME-body has to tax away your money and life.

  • @rodneypate1693
    @rodneypate1693 8 місяців тому +31

    A wonderful story. Wouldn't it be simpler to re-introduce beavers back into the area. Like bees, beavers work diligently and smart and create a better effect in restoring the land than humans. Keep up the effort, I'm so proud of all of you that takes care of Morher Earth ❤♾

    • @kazzana9013
      @kazzana9013 5 місяців тому +1

      Beavers need trees to build their dams and most of these areas are barren of trees. Once restored to some degree, the beavers will come back or can be reintroduced.

    • @jayyy4491
      @jayyy4491 4 місяці тому

      @@kazzana9013i live in the antelope valley and my mother wants to start a farm of flowers and vegetables as a business. Got into looking how we can do that and asked chat gpt. Funny it gave me a breakdown of what exactly needed to be done. I hope with 10acres this is possible. Sadly I wish we could restore all the land here to what it once was but I realize now that people are the main problem in the entire equation. Really hoping to have my little oasis to restore.

    • @BE74297
      @BE74297 2 місяці тому

      @@jayyy4491 The Calif. drought and fires were visibly engineered since 2012, it's been a nightmare. And all the blind mis-educated masses rush out to buy EVs that fast track the all EV Smart gnd/nwo. They never notice/d the skies. And they all act like remote controlled (Woke/Nwo) robots Programmed w/Lies. It's horrific. Berkeley, Calif., UCBeijing (formerly Berkeley) "students" and locals all Woke all the time. VXD/EVs/Masks, fake C.C. beLievers. MSM / EDU / CIA Mockingbird "smart" Program = Dumb as doorknobs. DO YOU THINK that's THE SUN? at 12 seconds?

  • @richardfiennes3616
    @richardfiennes3616 Рік тому +58

    Same as in Australia! Cotton is SOOO greedy for water. However, growing hemp would greatly reduce water use and it is fine for clothing whilst not needing so many pesticides etc!
    Anita Roddick founder of the ethical "Body Shop" chain used some of her wealth to push the use of hemp products and clothing I believe to no avail. The cotton industry is v powerful and refuses to embrace far more sustainable plants. Interestingly, ONLY 1% of cotton clothing is actually recycled around the World.
    Kind of says it all very sadly!

    • @LeafofLifeWorld
      @LeafofLifeWorld  Рік тому +11

      Its a shame that many counties make it difficult to grow hemp, its not just clothes but everything, you can even make very strong fire proof homes with the material, you can also make healthy oils with it

    • @richardfiennes3616
      @richardfiennes3616 Рік тому +4

      @@LeafofLifeWorld Hempcrete housing is DEFINITELY a good way forward. Use far less energy to heat and cool too.

    • @chisaomusician7752
      @chisaomusician7752 Рік тому +5

      Hemp is the second most hygenic clothing choice. I wish we could get those paper plants using hemp instead of trees.

    • @foxooo
      @foxooo Рік тому +2

      Hemp can basically be turned into anything.

    • @HannahRoot55
      @HannahRoot55 Рік тому +1

      @@richardfiennes3616 hey 👋

  • @ethandfortune
    @ethandfortune 9 місяців тому +13

    Crazy because I grew up building rock dams in the creeks behind my house 25 years later they are much much bigger bodys of water plus when it rained you could hear the water going over the rocks fro. The back patio. ❤ great video.

  • @budgarner3522
    @budgarner3522 8 місяців тому +13

    I've seen where beavers have been allowed to transform creeks and land into new fertile wetlands. Smart lady, cattle ranching according to the grasses on the land. Like selecting crops based based upon soil and moisture content of the land. Simple is truly better. Kudos to all.

  • @grantmccoy6739
    @grantmccoy6739 Рік тому +24

    Something I just noticed yesterday was how soft the soil has become after a severe drought this summer was quenched by heavy rainfall. The soil was so parched, that it actually was splitting apart. After the rain, the top layer broke off, like a flake, and all of the soil, even underneath is extremely soft. It's shocking. It makes me wonder if this actually is nature's way of tilling the soil.
    Basically, even drought can have benefits.

    • @kachinacain4243
      @kachinacain4243 9 місяців тому +3

      I live in the White Mountains by a cinder mine. My soil is clay and pumice sand heavy. When dried, it is like powder when it doesn't become like rock. I have noticed that the super soft desert soil is actually silt layer under a clay layer.

    • @jerbear7952
      @jerbear7952 5 місяців тому

      No bare cracked soil is never good. That is why healthy bare soil doesn't exist in nature.

  • @babyabraham51
    @babyabraham51 Рік тому +16

    Amazing transformation of barren land into lush green pastures and farm land . A little water can do wonders . Every rain brings water , all we have to do is to provide a space for it to rest . Wonderful work .

    • @donnaleveron5711
      @donnaleveron5711 9 місяців тому

      Trees attract rain, so plant all kinds. They also produce oxygen for us to breathe while using the carbon dioxide we expel during photosynthesis. They help to clean the air and provide shade and a cooling effect during hot summers. Fruit trees provide food for people and animals. Please plant trees.

    • @natel9019
      @natel9019 6 місяців тому

      ⁠@@donnaleveron5711Trees make rain by transpiring water . Have you ever notice the more plants they have in an area the more it rains?
      When they deforest an area and it rains the water is too hot to penetrate the soil.
      Cheers!

  • @maniswil2
    @maniswil2 Рік тому +18

    Southern Arizona is not in a drought. The rest of the southwest is. Just a small detail. This year and last year has brought more rain than any other time in recent history. Just the amount of rain days alone this year is going to be a record.

    • @marionpfander8752
      @marionpfander8752 Рік тому +4

      True .
      But will we get rain again next year ?
      Nothing is predictable anymore , so anyway we can work with nature instead of against it , will help .

  • @MjMurphy777
    @MjMurphy777 Рік тому +20

    Wow! One woman made a vast change without any prior training. There’s hope for all of us.

    • @ocalicreek
      @ocalicreek 9 місяців тому

      Yes! Just imagine if she had taken a Permaculture earthworks course, how much more productive and effective her designs could have been.

  • @bpkline5008
    @bpkline5008 10 місяців тому +15

    Valer Clark Austin, the "This Woman" in the title of this video is the woman who turned Arizona's Desert into a Farmland Oasis - and they don't even mention her name in the title or the description.

  • @fortheed3128
    @fortheed3128 Рік тому +17

    Same principle as Australias natural sequential farming pioneered by Peter Andrew's. He used land contouring and natural formation weirs. Awesome regeneration.

  • @jacobedward2401
    @jacobedward2401 Рік тому +10

    "Anybody with a good will can go out and do something"
    Love that! Put in your best effort and be patient and willing to learn.
    But I hope there are more people in the Southwest who will help save their home, because I'm not going down there!

  • @wesrennells910
    @wesrennells910 Рік тому +11

    For those interested this is a practice called permaculture to my knowledge it is only used on private owners lands but should be used wide spread. That being said it is getting hotter and hotter every year here in AZ and we're getting what feels to be less and less rain fall to compensate for the current usage

  • @jonathangold2087
    @jonathangold2087 9 місяців тому +10

    Great video, and amazing how older tried and true
    techniques, often adopted from indigenous
    cultures , can restore green growth in arid
    regions. We should all take a lesson from this, and these techniques should be promoted to
    regenerate productive agricultural land in
    arid regions around the globe. The results shown
    in this video speak for themselves! Why is this not
    being widely promoted and disseminated, so that
    all farms in arid regions could again become
    productive? One has to wonder why this is the
    case?

  • @kenhunt5153
    @kenhunt5153 Рік тому +34

    Borderlands Restoration, Watershed Mgmt Group and the Mission Gardens in Tucson are great resources for water retention, capture and use.
    Brad Lancaster is the true Authority on this subject. I would suggest a walk around the Dunbar-Springs neighborhood in Tucson to see these ideas in action.

  • @mohannair5671
    @mohannair5671 Рік тому +4

    There is hope for me and my son after listening to you!!!

  • @russelldouglas8746
    @russelldouglas8746 Рік тому +16

    Beavers would be helpful here. They used to be in every permanent waterway in AZ, and they do the same thing.

    • @bearpham565
      @bearpham565 Рік тому

      Beavers is not a rocks mover 😂

    • @PJ818
      @PJ818 10 місяців тому

      ^Absolutely this. Beavers slow down water flow, create ponds and meanders, with enough dams they mitigate flash floods, create wetlands that threatened fish and amphibian species need. If there's enough willow in a watershed to support a beaver population, beavers will take over and improve the riparian environment along a river for even more willow, cottonwoods, dogwoods, and at higher elevations, aspens. If the watershed is too steep/not a enough deep water for a relocated beaver to hide from predators, humans may need to come in and build several beaver dam analogs (BDAs) to give the beavers some initial options for places to hide as they settle in. Beavers are river restoration experts that you don't have to pay once they're established; though you may need to build some infrastructure to discourage them from clogging culverts under roads, and washing the roads out inadvertently, or paint trees you don't want chewed down with a latex paint mixed with sand, or wrap a tree's trunk with chicken wire to protect it from beavers.
      Beavers were reintroduced on the San Pedro River in southern Arizona, and are most definitely helping out that watershed; though there have been some bumps in the road for them from time to time.

    • @zoni36
      @zoni36 9 місяців тому

      @@bearpham565He didn’t say they were rock movers.🤦🏻‍♀️
      Go google “What is a beaver?” Once you can comprehend that, google “Environmental Impact of Beavers.”

    • @jakobrichards5493
      @jakobrichards5493 6 місяців тому

      they do the same thing rock dams do but in larger amounts for absolutely free@@bearpham565

  • @jackemeraldo6276
    @jackemeraldo6276 Рік тому +5

    We're having a record good monsoon season here in the southwest. New Mexico and Arizona especially. After a poor snowpack winter.

  • @MrArtist7777
    @MrArtist7777 Рік тому +78

    The EXACT opposite is happening here in Arizona, we're quickly turning in to one large desert as our forests are either being cut down or trees dying from severe lack of rain and snow. AZ's largest natural lake is completely dried up and water is becoming more and more scarce. I suggest everyone to plan on leaving the southwest U.S. when you get the chance.

    • @MrArtist7777
      @MrArtist7777 Рік тому +16

      @B B Yeah, we've had a large wildfire every year we've lived here in Flagstaff, for the past 15-years, decimating about 100+k acres of forest. We just had an old friend pass away a few months ago, at the age of 99, who was born and raised in Flagstaff, and she told us just last year that she doesn't remember any wildfires as a kids and that it used to rain and snow A LOT more here, when she was younger, and that it's noticeably much drying and warmer now. The climate records confirm what she remembered. There used to be more small lakes and streams in N. Arizona and today, most of them are dried up and gone. I've hung in there as long as I can, we're buying land and moving up to the Pacific Northwest next year, after we sell our house and wish the Southwest U.S. the best of luck, but it's going to get REALLY ugly here soon with Lake's Mead and Powell drying up, and wells running dry.

    • @AlicedeTerre
      @AlicedeTerre Рік тому +6

      @@MrArtist7777 all the best to those that are living there and working on making a difference, but I tell everyone that expresses interest in moving to one of those desert states that it’s gonna be bad in the near future.

    • @garcjr
      @garcjr Рік тому

      If hypothetically there is a desalination plant built in California or Mexico to pump water in to the mines and farms of Arizona. It'll be way too late because no one will want to pay for it or conserve water.

    • @brentstafford6289
      @brentstafford6289 Рік тому +2

      We need to get serious about water conservation !

    • @ronniemassart3834
      @ronniemassart3834 Рік тому +6

      @@garcjr I agree.....look @ the $ that California spends on crap. How much did they spend on a subway or whatever it was but never came to be

  • @peterclark6290
    @peterclark6290 Рік тому +10

    Rock dams, aka Leaky Weirs, Australian invention, Peter Andrews.
    Keyline Water management, Australian invention, P A Yeomans. He also invented the deep chisel plough to break apart hard pan, or compaction layers without turning over the soil and compromising whatever the underground life had already built.
    Work that has been followed by *Regenerative Agriculture* with names like Allan Savory (Sthn Rhodesian) with many others in both Science and application. Which all began in the 1950s with a paper by Andre Voisin (a Frenchman).
    Regen Ag farmers most of all needs informed customers (looking for increased nutrition) to help them buy or lease more land to wrest it from the greedy and reckless claws of Industrial Agriculture and Agribusiness.
    Regen Keywords, Ecosystem, Habitat, Rain water retention and sequestration, Carbon capture and sequestration, it's all about the soil (not dirt), growing not killing, etc. Well worth a deep dive.

  • @sabrinawanderer7560
    @sabrinawanderer7560 Рік тому +6

    I read in an article that places that don't rain that much means there are not enough trees for a rain cycle to happen. Precipitation cannot happen when there are few trees. Maybe it's time to prioritise Tree planting over urban developments for Mother Nature to function properly.

    • @LeafofLifeWorld
      @LeafofLifeWorld  Рік тому +7

      As long as it isn't monoculture tree planting because as you now see across Europe that is up in flames, they are all eucalyptus plantations, a healthy grass land or wetland is better than a monoculture of trees, tho a forest of diverse tree species is much needed everywhere

    • @brokendownoldman9547
      @brokendownoldman9547 Рік тому

      So you need to grow shade trees

    • @trishr.3986
      @trishr.3986 Рік тому +3

      @@LeafofLifeWorld I agree, plant what was there before the land was stripped. I still don't understand palm trees in Arizona.

  • @justlenny5525
    @justlenny5525 Рік тому +10

    Amazing what a few people could all change

  • @EsotericBibleSecrets
    @EsotericBibleSecrets Рік тому +5

    Thanks for being a glimmer of hope when virtually all news is bad news.

  • @tommctigue9098
    @tommctigue9098 Рік тому +5

    I've been enjoying your channel for a few weeks now and would like to thank you for the work you do .

  • @RyRy2057
    @RyRy2057 Рік тому +14

    really incredible. it should be noted that the primary technology here isn't the rock itself but that theyre designed to slow and percolate water. vegetation or small earth dams and swales also work for this purpose! water the most effective sustainable design is locally should be used, and I figure there was a lot of rock available there in Arizona and Sonora

  • @guruemi800
    @guruemi800 Рік тому +7

    What an Impressive work! How amazing she is!! Thank for sharing a good story.

  • @peterdollins3610
    @peterdollins3610 Рік тому +10

    In India, China & other places people have been putting in mini dams & holding dams to hold back rain water so it does not run off but sinks into the ground water. Needs to be done everywhere.

  • @ramshousecentral5356
    @ramshousecentral5356 Рік тому +8

    Using dessert areas as regenerative farming can help sink at least half of all emissions for entire generation. Imagine a world where we don’t have to fight wildfires for conservative our forest but to protect our homes

  • @kimwarburton8490
    @kimwarburton8490 Рік тому +7

    No doubt she also has had a decent moneypot to do something like this
    Good on her for not being greedy, for returning more to the planet than most, but its simply NOT possible if one doesnt have authority/ownership over the land in 1st place n that takes money and/or local government
    I DO love watching restoration vids, seeing the difference people CAN make when they have access to resources etc for that hypothetical oneday when i might be able to do something similar

  • @simplethings3730
    @simplethings3730 Рік тому +9

    Good thing we didn't use up all the rocks during the stone age.😁
    This gives me some ideas for my own land. At this time we are going through a serious drought in Texas. Over 600,000 acres have burned so far. I hate to say this but many of my fellow Texans don't seem to see this as a problem. Even after the disaster we had in 2021.

  • @johnnyjet3.1412
    @johnnyjet3.1412 Рік тому +4

    One of the answers is mixed crop fields - but banking demands single-crop fields - someone needs to tell the banks to go to hell.

  • @jeromefridmann6108
    @jeromefridmann6108 Рік тому +7

    Wrong heading... Should read : " How Arizona Oasis is on a FAST track to desertification " !!!

  • @The_Gallowglass
    @The_Gallowglass 9 місяців тому +3

    Similar things to the guy who started cutting out pieces of curb in suburban Arizona, so that the water didn't just go to the sewer system, but would re route into people's yards. After a while everything was green again.

  • @janalexandert
    @janalexandert Рік тому +6

    That was inspiring. Thank you.

  • @tomdillan
    @tomdillan Рік тому +2

    This should be done everywhere in AZ where there is a water stream. Also everywhere there has been a fire to reduce runoff.

  • @sriv9045
    @sriv9045 Рік тому +6

    Wow, super impressed. Keep doing good.

  • @Nitka022
    @Nitka022 Рік тому +4

    Amazing results! Amazing transformation! Absolutely love your videos. Such a feel good viewing so needed in this sad, difficult times. Thank you! :-))))

  • @mickgatz214
    @mickgatz214 Рік тому +2

    This short video/doc was amazing!

  • @23ofSeptember
    @23ofSeptember Рік тому +2

    Sometimes its just a matter of slowing the water down, creating shade, increasing the nitrogen content of the soil, and of course...prayer!

  • @billpetersen298
    @billpetersen298 Рік тому +4

    For slightly greener places, toss in a few beavers.

  • @ewetoobblowzdogg8410
    @ewetoobblowzdogg8410 Рік тому +4

    With our abilities, the entire southwest should be massive aquaponics farms. They use only 10% the water of conventional farming, produce 3 times the amount and can locally provide massive amounts of seafood and shellfish

  • @derekelliott3971
    @derekelliott3971 Рік тому +1

    Another excellent presentation. You're doing great work here. Thank you

  • @kimberleypex
    @kimberleypex Рік тому +1

    Super ! Here you van see how people can save Nature Its great , thank you for this beautifulvideo 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏

  • @victortiempo
    @victortiempo Рік тому +4

    Cactus to be planted doesn't need watering but they absorb naturally from the atmosphere so it is a great way of applying cactus as a first step on enhancing plant growth. On the dessrt regions

  • @suzannebryant3107
    @suzannebryant3107 Рік тому +3

    I will & want to volunteer to "REBIRTH" Mother Nature❤️ I have been educating myself & others (mostly children). The love for Mother Nature & all of the benefits, especially her soil. It truely makes me sick to know that alot of people like to use "weed" killer, they are NOT weeds. I know I am self taught & I can heal my own body, with the knowledge of my own hands on education ❤️ Thank you all for the REBIRTH of our LAND❤️🙏

  • @matthewtorpey6676
    @matthewtorpey6676 5 місяців тому

    Two Truly wonderful People with nothing more than a dream, A wonderful drive for the help of our world 🌎. Such a beautiful video. God bless 🙏 Matt from Australia.

  • @tammykoble236
    @tammykoble236 Рік тому

    BLESS YOU FOR BRINGING HOPE TO MANY.

  • @c.d.porter9366
    @c.d.porter9366 Рік тому +8

    AZ was green and because of the lack of a rational agriculture policy greed driven developers bought up farm land to put buildings on while reducing available agriculture/farm land.

  • @2centsworth766
    @2centsworth766 9 місяців тому +3

    We are having the same problems farther east. I moved to NW Arkansas in 1991. At that time we averaged about 45 inches of rain per year. Today our average is about 35. Also, I might mention the seasons are changing. Winter is coming later. Spring is coming later.

  • @diannegooding8733
    @diannegooding8733 3 місяці тому

    Brilliant work. Congratulations and thanks!

  • @ziaarastu7519
    @ziaarastu7519 Рік тому

    These videos give us hope !!

  • @gnarmarmilla
    @gnarmarmilla 11 місяців тому +5

    This is such good news. Thank you for sharing this and for all the work that you are doing. I was worried for Arizona, and I still am, because many ignorant people are farming out there and they are very unwise the way the suck the land dry of water without caring for the land. This woman and her organization are a breath of fresh air, a hope for all humanity.
    I pray to God that more people like her will be blessed to do work like this.
    I also pray that more journalist and media outlets will do more intelligent work like Leaf Of Life because the people need it.
    Thanks again

  • @vickyesperanza8267
    @vickyesperanza8267 9 місяців тому +3

    the last 7 years in Arizona has been in a very mild summers, we have had tons of rain and we have been cooler in the winters, this last year was the greenest it has been all over the valley. It will be a hot summer and most likely this winter it will still be hotter than the last 7 years. Prior to the last 7 years it has always been hotter and Decembers were always still in the 80"s. It is a cycle..and will continue to be a cycle..

  • @jamesrjohanniii774
    @jamesrjohanniii774 Рік тому +2

    Should look up the Tucson swales. Built after the depression.. stuff works.

  • @sussudioharvey9458
    @sussudioharvey9458 Рік тому +2

    People always seem surprised when you tell them that Bison once roamed areas of AZ . I know a few Bison ranchers. If we want meat why cattle? Bison do not near require what cattle do.Survive in areas cattle cannot tolerate. And is leaner and tastier.

  • @skeletalbassman1028
    @skeletalbassman1028 Рік тому +3

    Great video. God bless their work.

  • @IIVVBlues
    @IIVVBlues Рік тому +5

    Unfortunately, the tremendous density of modern populations overwhelms even the most well-intentioned efforts. The truth is that there are simply too many people supported by the land.

  • @luciamirandasainz4501
    @luciamirandasainz4501 Рік тому +1

    Thank you both to help and show to everyone how to save our world and create at the same time a paradise in earth!!❤️❤️😄😄🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻💯🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 THANKS TO SHOW US HOW TO DO IT 🌎 We're on time to save our world...☺️☺️☺️☺️

  • @marcelofeliciano8151
    @marcelofeliciano8151 2 місяці тому +1

    Parabéns pelo trabalho que vocês fizeram . 🎉🎉

  • @lorebrown5307
    @lorebrown5307 Рік тому +7

    Great video. If you're looking for an interesting topic for another video maybe you could look into terra preta soils in S. America. While there are vidoes about them, no one's talking about how and where they are still in use today, what kind of food and abundance they are still providing. Just a suggestion

  • @zhipphow
    @zhipphow Рік тому +3

    Amazing Info Thank You

  • @deannealbrecht774
    @deannealbrecht774 Рік тому +2

    We have to go back to go back to farming diversity. I'm in LV and started tower hydroponics to grow my greens and save water and I'm growing other vegetables outside.

  • @owlan99
    @owlan99 Рік тому +2

    Arizona was largely open savannah maintained by large herbivores such as bison. It's was not blanketed in forest.

  • @darrelllingman63
    @darrelllingman63 Рік тому +3

    I think that the Federal government should pass a law where this should be made common practice to save water. Give grants to achieve this or tax breaks. Send government officials out to observe and sign off.

  • @MrVillabolo
    @MrVillabolo Рік тому +5

    Just curious to know, can all of Arizona be transformed into permaculture lands, or is it only certain locations within the state?

  • @Gracia144JesusSaves
    @Gracia144JesusSaves Рік тому +2

    What a Great initiative 📯📜📖⛲🌲🌿🌱🏞️

  • @jamesmatheson5115
    @jamesmatheson5115 10 місяців тому +1

    Holding water on your land is major, once you have water and you have regrowth of grass, you need to flood the gazing land with sheep in very large numbers for short periods, that way you get maximum fertilization, which is the second most important thing.

  • @victortiempo
    @victortiempo Рік тому +3

    During this global warming period plants in the torrid regions seem to wilt and die , but there are lots of methodss like applying edible cactus to be planted in massive population in order to enhance the soil on retaining moisture but grinding or chapping harvested cactus and disperse it back to the dessert or feed it to animals which animal discharges can help dessert soil becomes more moisteneed

    • @victortiempo
      @victortiempo Рік тому

      @@billnelson3405 base on forest percentages , global regions plunged to low in terms of perrenial trees existence , agricultural plants holds lesser water and pressurize water vapor into each lower percentage , that accounts for counteracting global warming

  • @emmahardesty4330
    @emmahardesty4330 Рік тому +5

    Permaculture techniques (aka logic) always bring dramatic changes quickly. Thankful for these folks for healing the land.

  • @simonlinser8286
    @simonlinser8286 9 місяців тому +2

    Also a guy who did this in Switzerland or Austria, but on top of a small mountain. He basically terraformed it to create a pond and made it verdant and lively where as it was or used to barren and rocky. Idk his name. Also, the co founder of church's chicken did the same. He used his money to buy a ranch and transformed it. There's a documentary about him on UA-cam. This is a cool subject.

  • @joanthecrow900
    @joanthecrow900 9 місяців тому

    Thank you all involved in sharing this 🙏🏽🤍💛♥️🖤

  • @kittimcconnell2633
    @kittimcconnell2633 Рік тому +13

    This is a superior way to use water. Using ground water will cause salts to build ups on those farms. Rain water is much better! This method is making enormous differences in China, Australia, India, some Middle Eastern and some African countries. So glad to see it's working in Arizona!

  • @OneEyedOneHornedGian
    @OneEyedOneHornedGian Рік тому +3

    I wonder is this a good thing? The wildlife in Arizona has spent a long time adapting to it's environment.

    • @LeafofLifeWorld
      @LeafofLifeWorld  Рік тому +3

      Yes because wildlife need water to survive, even deserts have water and biodiversity, as shown in the video, restoring the watershed has increased the local biodiversity who are adapted to Arizona but if there is no grasslands or vegetation or water these creatures and plants will die. Valer Clark Austin has saved rare endangered fish that would not be there if the watershed is totally dried up.

    • @SR-iy4gg
      @SR-iy4gg Рік тому +1

      Agreed. If the land originally WAS green, like places in Africa that have turned into part of the Sahara desert, that's one thing, but turning land that was always desert into something it's not, is not a good thing. Deserts serve a purpose too. Just because people want to farm in a desert doesn't mean it should be farmed.

    • @timothyblazer1749
      @timothyblazer1749 Рік тому +2

      @@SR-iy4gg nothing was always anything, friend... Large parts of the southwest were under an inland sea if you go back a bit.

    • @trishr.3986
      @trishr.3986 Рік тому +1

      Hmmm... I think the pandemic/c-virus showed us how much wildlife is waiting for human life to "get it" and get out of the way. That doesn't seem a valid question, in my own opinion. Do you mean something like the coyotes and bobcats making themselves at home in yards as adapting? They are in their territory and yet some people think they are around for a visit. I really like this Leaf of life films.

  • @doubleg1239
    @doubleg1239 Рік тому +1

    Awesome only need more detailed information so I'll search web to create my own. Question: are the dams built along the pathways of river or completely blocking the path altogether?

  • @abelincoln5000
    @abelincoln5000 9 місяців тому

    Wow!! Fantastic work. Thank you!

  • @seattleareatom
    @seattleareatom Рік тому +3

    Interesting. Where I live in the pacific northwest rock dams are illegal.

  • @devorahrose782
    @devorahrose782 Рік тому +4

    We could probably have golf courses but when marinsi copper mines go around buying up pecan orchards and huge tracts of farm land at maximum price just to own the water rights and let the fields and orchards die and irrigation ditches fall into disrepair so they can feed their copper mountain eating habits): we must regulate the hunger of greed

  • @nashkh1
    @nashkh1 8 місяців тому

    Love and respect from Canada ❤

  • @dragoonzen
    @dragoonzen 5 місяців тому

    Absolutely amazing!

  • @daynaswan427
    @daynaswan427 Рік тому +3

    We are in a drought so how is Arizona going green?

    • @knutvreb6506
      @knutvreb6506 Рік тому +8

      The areas that manage to replenish the groundwater are fine despite droughts. To say that the whole state is going green is still wrong, though.

    • @kittimcconnell2633
      @kittimcconnell2633 Рік тому +1

      The video explains

    • @1Corinthians151-4
      @1Corinthians151-4 Рік тому

      seems pretty nice and rainy here this year, like rain every 5 days. or so.

    • @garcjr
      @garcjr Рік тому

      It's being used to water all the grass in Scottsdale, Gilbert, and Oro Valley.

  • @thesurvivalist.
    @thesurvivalist. 10 місяців тому +4

    The sad part is that government and big business, will never use sustainable technology, to grow food, supply resources, and keep our world healthy for human and all the animal life! That answer have existed, since we started growing our own food! Permaculture!

  • @kickinghorse2405
    @kickinghorse2405 Рік тому +1

    My new happy channel!

  • @reginabehme6464
    @reginabehme6464 Рік тому

    Großartig! Danke.

  • @Flyingdutchy33
    @Flyingdutchy33 Рік тому +6

    Did you know that increased CO2 helps to make plants more water efficient? It is cited as one of the reasons the drier parts of the world are greening.

    • @SR-iy4gg
      @SR-iy4gg Рік тому

      Shhh. That doesn't fit the "CO2 is evil" mantra. Don't confuse them with truth.

    • @Flyingdutchy33
      @Flyingdutchy33 Рік тому +4

      @@SR-iy4gg You'd think they'd be happy, but no.. Nasa reports the earth has never been greener because of increased levels of CO2. Yeah, haven't heard that one in the news either.

    • @distanceismyplastercast
      @distanceismyplastercast 9 місяців тому

      Bald faced lie

  • @yaboi1476
    @yaboi1476 Рік тому +6

    Arizona is and has been in a stage 2 water shortage for the majority of the pandemic. We're running out of clean drinkable water. Arizona is not a farmland oasis it doesn't have any natural bodies of water all the lake water comes from the Colorado mountains. There's a drought of almost biblical proprtions on the horizon for us still here in arizona

    • @LeafofLifeWorld
      @LeafofLifeWorld  Рік тому +3

      The colorado mountains is not the only place where water comes from clearly, since the video shows you streams and springs from the Chiricahua Mountains, there are many mountains and multiple natural water courses in Arizona, not all have been restored, but if they were then it would improve the water situation alot.

  • @flip1980ful
    @flip1980ful Рік тому

    This makes me happy!

  • @Samana009
    @Samana009 9 місяців тому

    This is the kind of people who should have a noble prize...

  • @petefluffy7420
    @petefluffy7420 7 місяців тому

    Changed the mountains in the distance and everything

  • @Julesong
    @Julesong 8 місяців тому +1

    I love your transformative videos, especially those for projects in the United States. We need more US-based restoration/conservation videos. 🌼

  • @hhwippedcream
    @hhwippedcream Рік тому

    Thank you for sharing! Anybody with a good will can go about anyth8ng!

  • @randydurston4777
    @randydurston4777 7 місяців тому

    I love this video. I’m currently doing this on a smaller scale in my own backyard here in Peoria,AZ. ❤❤❤

  • @zennvirus7980
    @zennvirus7980 8 місяців тому +1

    Start from the flood plains of existing mayor rivers.
    Step 1: Excavate shallow, meandering canals and make the rock dams to allow the creeks to form.
    Step 2: Hire a family of beavers to make ponds and turn the plains around the canals into wetlands.
    Step 3: Once the beavers have made enough discharge canals for their ponds, use them as reference to start making chinampas (import the help of some expert xochimilcas).
    Step 4: Establish the system of companion crops (corn, squash, beans, etc.) to maintain the health of the chinampas.
    Step 5: Once you have enough chinampas and they've reached their maximum expected output within the rotation system, then you can plan business around the minimum yields.

  • @kpatel7995
    @kpatel7995 9 місяців тому

    Outstanding. Thanks.