Permaculture & Regenerative Earthworks: Applied Hydrology 101

Combining permaculture design with scientific environmental engineering.

Most landscape earthworks fail because they rely on guesswork rather than hydrology. Getting water management wrong leads to blown-out budgets, failed dams, severe soil erosion, and lost water holding capacity.

Permaculture & Regenerative Earthworks: Applied Hydrology 101 gives you the complete framework to plan, design, and execute large-scale landscape water systems with scientific certainty.

Taught by Danial Lawton (M.Env.Eng), this 5-day intensive course merges over 25 years of hands-on permaculture earthworks experience with Master’s-level civil engineering. Whether you are drought-proofing your property, designing broadacre systems, or operating machinery professionally, you will leave with the exact mathematical, spatial, and field tools needed to build resilient landscapes that last generations.

The Unique Difference: Precision Spillway Sizing Made Simple

Traditional permaculture courses teach you how to calculate catchment runoff—how much water falls on the land. Where almost all courses stop short is calculating actual spillway geometry. Students are usually left with rough “rules of thumb” like “make it a few meters wide and level.”

Undersized spillways are the #1 reason dams overtop, wash out, and fail during 1-in-100-year rain events.

In this course, you will learn Danial Lawton’s unique  passive spillway calculation method—a simple, elegant framework that turns complex civil engineering hydraulics into a fast, 3-step field calculation:

* Easily Calculate Spillway Width & Length: Determine the exact cross-sectional opening your site requires to discharge floodwaters safely.
* Passive Velocity Control: Design channels anchored to a passive water velocity, ensuring overflow glides smoothly over grass without stripping topsoil or cutting back into the dam wall.
* Freeboard Precision: Calculate minimum dam wall safety margins above high-water line with absolute mathematical confidence.

What You Will Master

• Dam, Swale & Spillway Geometry: Master keyway compaction depths, batter ratios, pipe crossings, and level-sill spillways that handle major overflow safely.

• Catchment Hydrology & Peak Flow Calculations: Calculate exact water run-off volumes, catchment yields, and spillway capacities for extreme rain events.

• GIS & Topographical Mapping: Read spatial data, evaluate land slopes, and identify hidden hydrological risks before committing capital.

• Soil Mechanics for Operators: Test clay cohesion, soil texture, and seepage risks directly at the excavation face.

• Project Costing & Contractor Management: Accurately estimate cubic meters of soil moved, machine hours, fuel burn, and workflow scheduling.

• Course Logistics & Inclusions

  • Duration: 5 Days (Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM)

  • Location: Woodford, QLD (exact address provided when booked).

  • Accommodation: : On-site dorm accommodation included for Monday through Thursday nights (Check-out Friday afternoon). Note: Interstate/international students will need to arrange their own Sunday night lodging in nearby Woodford, Maleny, or Brisbane.

  • Catering: Fully catered—all meals, snacks, and tea/coffee included. (Sorry no spacial dietary requirements catered for).

  • Class Size: Strictly limited to ensure high-ratio individual instruction and site analysis support.

  Who Should Attend?

  • Landholders & Farmers: Property owners wanting to drought-proof their land, store millions of liters of water, and prevent soil erosion.

  • Earthmoving Contractors: Operators looking to offer high-ticket, engineered water management and regenerative site design to clients.

  • Permaculture Designers & Consultants: Practitioners wanting to back up their site designs with formal hydrology calculations and GIS accuracy.

  Grant & Funding Eligibility

  Primary producers, graziers, and landholders in South East Queensland may be eligible to claim or subsidize this course through state and local programs:

  • QRIDA Farm Business Resilience Program: Claimable training expense under formal property management planning.

  • Council & Landcare Subsidies: Select places may be co-funded through local catchment management initiatives.

Get to know Danial HERE