A pasture productive system in traditional English agriculture.
Farnoosh Bazrafkan 2021
The Harnham Water Meadows are located inland in the South-Western part of England. The water catchment area of Harnham being a part of the county of Wiltshire. The rivers of this area are largely spring-fed and provide a stable flow throughout the year. Along the floodplains of these rivers a series of (abondoned) water meadows can be found. Water meadows are part of a well known irrigation system in England. The chalk valley landscapes of Wessex are an important county for water meadows because of the topsoil texture and slightly alkaline water they provide, elements that are needed for grass sward development.
Clockwise. Farmer harvesting hay; Victorian aqueduct guiding the flow of water; the specialized worker known as the “drowner” of the meadows; the water meadows lay-out, better known as “bedworks”.
The Harnham Water Meadows, as a remnant of the 17th-century farming revolution, form an important part of the historical English landscape. These floodplain meadows are altered in such a way as to control the flow of water in order to improve agricultural activities. Due to their common occurrence, water meadows are often regarded as semi-natural features in the landscape while in reality they are notably artificially constructed.
The water system plan including mills, hatches and aqueducts.
In more detail, in figure 17 it becomes evident that the two mills at Salisbury and Harnham are integrated into the water system and provide a raised water level upstream through impoundment. Then, the main carriages, controlled by so-called hatches or sluice gates, allow the flow of water into the meadows. Eventually, river water would run along the tops of the constructed ridges so that water trickles through the grass at a depth of 25mm. The passage of water would return back into the river system via drains that lead to a tail drain back into the river Avon.
Circular Stories
Initially, water meadows were part of the English agricultural “Sheep-Corn System”. The meadows provided grass while the sheep grazing this grass provided fertilization, leading to better crops on surrounding arable fields. Within this agricultural system, “floated” watermeadows were used for irrigation in the winter or early in spring, bringing nutrients and oxygen into the soil. Typically, this caused the grass to start growing about one month earlier than un-floated floodplain meadows. Later in the season, during the summer when the soil was drying out, water meadows were re-watered so that (typically) two cuts of hay were taken and used to feed other animals – cattle and horses. The drowning of the meadows took place in a cyclical management system. Meadows were usually drowned for a few days followed by drained for a few days (3-7 days). In mid-March when grass would reach a height of 150mm, sheep would graze the fields of the meadows. Towards the end of May, the sheep would be removed again, allowing the grass to produce hay crops. From June until the end of September dairy cattle grazed, causing problems for the meadow surface and water banks. The latter leads to bedwork maintenance during the end of the fall.
An open waterway that provides clean fresh water for drinking and irrigational use. Small ones are called “Kau 溝”, big ones are called called “Tsùn 圳”.
Project: Ksôkong Tsùn Irrigation System, Taiwan
Climate: Tropical savanna climate with dry-winter characteristics
A traditional irrigation system that set the the foundation of Kaohsiung City.
Man-Chuan Sandy Lin 2020
The growth of Kaohsiung is closely related to its irrigation system. The Ksôkong Tsùn irrigation system is a traditional water management and irrigation system used for the purpose of agriculture. The system dates back in 19th century and it has been claimed as municipal heritage site of the city of Kaohsiung.
Plan showing zoom in detail of Cao-Gong irrigation system.
The Ksôkong Tsùn irrigation system consists mainly four types of elements: dam, inlet, waterway, water retention pond.
Clockwise. Thê (dam), a linear obstacle built perpendicular to a river to guild and direct water to the river water inlet for irrigation ditch; Tsùn-thâu (river water inlet), a gate element that can control the amount of irrigation water intake. In typhoon season, the gate can be closed to protect crops from flooding; farmer used watermill to get water from the waterway.
Circular Stories
In Taiwan, the connection between land and people was once profound and unbreakable, especially in agricultural society before modernization.
Water from river Ko-pin-khe is obtained from a dam, regulated using inlets, to irrigate rice fields following natural topography and weaved an aquatic landscape. Besides the rice fields, water plants production such as taros and water chestnuts, were located in the water retention. This agriculture production, together with aquaculture, formed a circular system that supported one another. On the landscape, Ksô-kong irrigation system accommodated a variety of human activities. At the time people were close to water, scenes like women doing laundry and socializing by the water, children playing in the field, and men fishing on the edge of waterways were common on daily basis.
A story of circularity of a lifestyle that utilizes water resource as irrigation system in southern Taiwan.
