And, converted to units that actually make sense:

  • 1 Inch = 25.4 Millimeter of rain
  • 1 Acre = 4046.85642 Sq. meter of forest/wetland/parking lot
  • 750 Imperial gallon = 3409.569 Liter = 3.409569 Cubic meter of runoff
  • 27000 Imperial gallon = 122744.484 Liter = 122.744484 Cubic meter of runoff

I’d ratio it down to figures per 1 mm or 1 cm of rain, but I’m not sure if it actually scales linearly that way.

  • @roastpotatothief
    1•2 years ago

    Thanks for the answer. I really find this stuff interesting, though superficially it doesn’t sound like it should be.

    Yeah, you could improve infiltration

    Thanks. So there is an easy way to make ruined soil productive again. That’s the answer I was hoping for.

    that would mess with the stability of the foundation

    So the water would rest against the walls, or etch a channel down around the foundation. I never thought of that.

    It all reminds me of this: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/depave-paradise/

    Don’t get me started on suburban sprawl. It’s so needless and so bad in every way.

    • @Slatlun
      2•2 years ago

      the water would rest against the walls

      Out of my expertise here, but I think there are ways to waterproof structures so that being constantly submerged isn’t a problem.

      etch a channel down

      This is on the nose for what I was thinking. It can be even more of a problem if the builders weren’t as careful as they should be when they compacted the ground below your foundation. Any air pockets they left will be filled in by soil movement. The other issue is that soils shrink and swell when they dry or get wet. That can cause real movement over time.

      Thanks for the link, I’d never heard of that, but the subsidence (30ft!) caused by aquifer draw down is the result of that shrinkage on a very large scale like they say. I am surprised there are any buildings standing. It makes me wonder what will happen if they succeed in recharging the aquifer.

      I love the type of gardening that they preach on there though. It would make me happy to see more places moving that way.