living on top of a hill (it’s only 60m above sea level, but still) has its perks. since we moved here we have seen the george river inundate the flood plain below on a number of occasions, and the causeway had to be closed several times as well.

around our new home we have been careful to ensure the ground falls away from the house, and that we create a drainage system that directs the water around, and down the hill. recent experience has shown that even in somewhat heavier downpours the dry creek bed is able to deal with the storm water effectively.

however, this merely shifts the problem further down the hill, and we have been forced to look at how we keep the water off the roads, so they do not get washed out. that has proven far more difficult than we thought, particularly because water seems to pop up in unexpected, and often quite inconvenient, places, like in the middle of a road.

or the side of the road. this spring seems to come out of the side of the hill, next to the road, pretty much out of nowhere. for now i just tried to make sure the water does no further damage, but it looks like i’ll have to find a better way, like a spoon drain that immediately redirects the water away from the road. otherwise we’ll just have to keep fixing holes in the road …

spoon drains in particular, or drains in general need to be maintained, or else they silt up, and overflow. we never thought we’d learn so much about storm water management; the thing is, if we don’t living on that hill will be a very expensive exercise, even if it is very unlikely we will get washed away.

and this is the area we cleaned up last time to redirect the water away from the road – looks like it works (it will need a little more work, though, luckily we can now see what to do & where). thank god for that excavator …