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Drought Proofing/Water Harvesting for Baja Properties - A Permaculture Approach (Baja Bio Sana, near San Jorge, Baja, California Sur, Mexico)

Starts Jun 24, 2009 and runs for 7 day(s).

Note: This course is not organised and run by The Permaculture Research Institute. It is facilitated by another organisaton and meets the high teaching standards required by the Permaculture Institue.

Topics Covered will include:

- Principles/Theory (2.5 days)
- Permaculture Overview & Key Principles
- Water Strategies for the Drylands
- Whole Property Design - Keyline Principles
- Passive Rainwater harvesting
- Calculating rainwater harvest potential - roofs & landscape
- Wells for water harvest
- Earthworks
- Survey methods
- Earthworks for rainwater harvesting - Gabions, Swales & Limonias
- Roof capture & tank storage - first flush systems and tank material options
- Water Use Efficiency
- Home: Low flow fittings, Greywater re-use
- Farm/Garden: Efficient water delivery Drip irrigation, tree tubes etc.
- Soil protection - Mulch & shelterbelts
- Building living soils - compost & N fixing plants

Practicum (4.5 days) - Approximate time focus
- Surveying for the gabions & swales
- Gabion Construction
- Swale Construction
- Revegetation Process
- Well digging


Course Instructors

Andrew Jones has a background in sustainable development, ecology and international aid, as well as a more recent focus on integrative wellness. He trained in permaculture with Geoff Lawton, Bill Mollison, Janet Millington and Darren Doherty from 1999 - 2001. He has subsequently been involved a range of projects in the tropics, temperate and desert climates of the world.

Additional local co-teachers will also be participating in the course, along with local earthmoving experts.

Important information about this course

Pricing Options:

• Whole course package including camping at Baja BioSana: $650 (meals not provided). This includes airport pickup and delivery if you need it. Site camping facilities are very basic so you will need to come fully prepared for camping.
• Whole course rate: 7 days = $500
• Daily attendance rate: $100 - choose only those days that seem most relevant to you
• Worktrade/Internshship/scholarships: Limited number available, preference to local people who will use knowledge gained.

How to Pay: First, please book via the booking buttons at bottom of page. Then you can pay via Paypal, check or money order. Click here for details.

Baja BioSana

Baja BioSana is an early stage community with a vision of co-creating abundance in meeting fundamental human needs through the collective wisdom that we hold. We are about demonstrating possibilities in terms of eco-systemic development and community, food production, healing, learning and exploring. We are dedicated to contributing to a vibrant local community, and connecting to other nodes of excellence in order to help generate self sustaining systems. Permaculture forms part of the solution-based tapestry that we are beginning to apply to our land. This course will mark the first phase of site development which is the rainwater harvesting systems.

Our landscape is made up of 20 acres of gently sloping land on the edge of the old river floodplain. Located literally 50 yards south of the Tropic of Cancer, we are situated in the dry tropics of the Baja Peninsula, within the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. This area lies approximately 1100 miles south of San Diego. Our site is about 2 km past Agua Caliente on the road to El Chorro in the vicinity of Santiago. Our land contains approximately 2 acres of existing mango and avocado orchard, as well as some newly developed vegetable gardens and plantings of papayas, bananas and other fruits.

Baja BioSana is located just a mile from the LaLaguna Mountains Biosphere reserve. About 25 minutes walk from our land, the biosphere reserve includes hot springs and a river - ideal for relaxing and soaking after a hard day's work. We are also a 25 minute drive from beaches on the coast, and 45 minutes away from decent surf.

If Booking Flights

There is a small airport in Cabo San Lucas/San Jose del Cabo - airport code SJD (be sure to use this, as there are a number of San Jose airports around the world). It is about a 60 minute drive to Baja BioSana from Here. Another regional airport is located in La Paz (airport code LAP), which is a two-hour drive away from our site.

Below are driving directions, from the San Jose Airport:

1. Get on Highway 1 North toward La Paz.
2. Drive 26 miles to the turn off for Santiago on your left.
3. Drive through the town of Santiago following the signs to the Zoo (2.8 miles).
4. As you pass the zoo, the pavement ends.
5. Continue on the dirt road to Agua Caliente (about 4 miles).
6. Drive through Agua Caliente (see small school, church on your left)
7. Continue straight towards El Chorro (marked as San Jorge on Google maps)
8. After 1 mile, the road takes a sharp right down onto the river bed.
9. About 150 yards up on the other see the little blue BAJA BIO SANA sign on your right.
6. Follow the narrow road to the right, and veer left at the fork to arrive at our gate.
10. Welcome to Baja Bio Sana!

For further information for this course please contact education@permacultureusa.org.

Course pricing / bookings

Prices in U.S. dollars