A rare delight on my property is the sound of flowing water. For about a half hour to an hour after heavy rain, it is possible to enjoy the sight and sound of trickling water running over the rocks down the ravine that drains part of Archway Ridge, which runs across the upper edge of my 40 acre property. Running water does not last long, so I have to get out there to appreciate it very soon after the rain ends or else I will miss it altogether. When I do catch it, for a short time I can pretend that I am camping by a mountain brook. Oh wait, this actually IS a mountain brook! Which fish species should I stock it with – trout or salmon? Maybe I should grow rice?

Can you spot the water tanks in this photo? I swear they exist. This channel is a dry stream bed by default, i.e. most of the time. It’s a natural channel that holds water only during and after a heavy runoff-producing rainfall event, such as this one generated by the remnants of former Eastern Pacific Hurricane Odile, which dropped 1.55 inches (40 mm) of precip in 30 minutes. The ravine drains about 10 acres of hillside and ridgeline spanning about 200 feet of elevation change. It’s not large in the grand scheme of things, but it is enough to temporarily hold some water under certain circumstances.

There are five different species  of columnar cactus in this photograph. Most of the visible cacti are saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea), but the foreground one is a cardon (Pachycereus pringlei), with a low-branching “Argentine saguaro” (Trichocereus terscheckii) slightly to the left and behind, and a red barrel cactus (Ferocactus acanthodes, unusually tall at nearly 6 feet) to the far left right next to a saguaro. The 5th columnar species is an organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) in the upper left corner with two visible branches. It actually has three stems, and it’s growing in the sandy patch of soil next to the juniper tree. The cholla cacti and smaller red barrels are not classed as columnar in this scene.

Some of the saguaros look significantly different from the others due to maturity and spine color/length, so I understand why people might think that there are more different species than there actually are. The cardon cactus up front has started a cycle of rapid new growth since August 2014 when it rained enough to get it started. The fresh green cells at the very tip indicate that it has grown about 2 inches thus far, and it may grow as much as 6 inches total before winter cold shuts it down.

The lichens that cover the northern, shady sides of rocks color up even more nicely when wet than they do when they are dry.

The structures of rocks that cross the arroyo channel are small check dams that I created to help slow water flow, allow greater time for the water to soak into the soil, and trap sediments to reduce erosion. They are but one more trick in the bag of water-harvesting methods that are simple, inexpensive, and effective at increasing water percolation into the aquifer and helping plants to grow better.

For other images of the flooding and damage from Hurricane Odile, check out the next post in the link below. Thanks for reading!