Dig an aqueduct underground. You need to dig all the way over to ONE TILE BENEATH the river. Then, you need to dig 3 tiles over or so. This is where you WILL (NOT YET) channel the riverbed above. Now, you need an escape tunnel on this straightaway tunnel at the top: this is a tunnel that just has to have a door in the wall of the aqueduct. Doors block water if kept tightly closed. After using it, you will forbid it so no one dies. Then you need a floodgate connected to a lever. Dig your aqueduct DOWN first, THEN over to your fort. Dig it onto the level you want it; but remember, plan to reuse this as a well or something. I did this exact setup on my fort, works great. Mostly cause that stream is up an evil mountain and it has a rotting dust cloud that's guaranteed to kill anything. Eventually and bloodily. Now, once you have it dug into your farm, set up another floodgate there. You never know what might happen, and this gives you two chances to stop water flow before flooding everything. Remember, seal this farm off, btw, otherwise your entire fort (below it and on its level) will become farmable area.
Next, you need a drain. Across from the aqueduct, dig a channel into the opposite end of the farm; in the floor. Make an alcove for it to avoid fiddling with any plans you have for the area you've dug. Below this, you're going to have a drain. Now, for this drain, you need a staircase. Build your staircase down some 4 tiles away from this alcove and channel, but DONT put it in the way. So, you're going to dig a tunnel down here, straight from the channel to the edge of the map. You're going to have a right-angle in this though: from the channel, dig parallel to the closest map edge for 2-3 tiles, then dig your tunnel straight to it. All the way to the map edge. Smooth this tile, then "Carve Fortifications" in the "d"esignations menu. Now, put a floodgate in that section of tunnel parallel to the map edge, and attach it to a lever. This is so you can build a well later. Because you've got this tube with a drain ... build a short tunnel going away from the map edge on your drainpipe here, take it over to beneath your main meeting area. Channel the tile above it, build well. There, interior water source. When you build a well, add a grate shortly before the well AFTER EVERYTHING ELSE IS DONE. Otherwise dwarves may get stuck down there. Also, watch to be sure that your dwarves do not build the grate from the wrong side. They shouldn't, but they like to do dumb things. Now, for that down staircase you built, out of the way of this little bendy pipe and well assembly? Build a short tunnel to it from this staircase, and put a door there. Now it's a maintenance tunnel. After all work down there is done and all dwarves are out of the drain, forbid it. And "Keep Tightly Closed" at all times, or stray animals WILL drown themselves. Now you've got a well that will not get pressurized, and a muddied farm. Put a grate in that alcove (the channeled part in the farm that drains it), floor grate, to prevent accidental deaths from idiots in the wrong place at the wrong time.
HOWEVER: to use the well you have to close the upper floodgate, and then channel a hole before the farm: you need to have a well that can be used without flooding the farm again and again. So, dig down, then dig a tunnel over to the drain, on its level. Place a wall in the farm, so there's no hole in its wall, and you're done.
TL;DR: You thought DF was simple enough for a TL;DR!?!??
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Topic: Far away river need farm (Read 770 times)