Helpful tips for pond management needed

[uncwnells]

before you do anything, I would get the flooding problem under control. Otherwise, you will keep losing fish and plants to overflow.

 

[The1and only]

The problem with a lawyer is even if you are 100% right it still takes years for this crap to settle and you have a problem now. I would start by moving dirt from the outskirts of your property toward your house to make the low spot not be your backyard. Also more drains to the pond will only make things worse, you need to drain it away. You might want to try to borrow your neighbors backhoe and dig a huge trench along the side of your property where the flood waters come in and fill it with gravel and top with good draining soil. In essence you would be building a leech field to catch and drain flood waters. you could also pump pond water in there in fall to prepare for the spring thaw and storms. That way the pond will catch more water before it overflows.

 

[ddyerfamily]

The problem with a lawyer is even if you are 100% right it still takes years for this crap to settle and you have a problem now. I would start by moving dirt from the outskirts of your property toward your house to make the low spot not be your backyard. Also more drains to the pond will only make things worse, you need to drain it away. You might want to try to borrow your neighbors backhoe and dig a huge trench along the side of your property where the flood waters come in and fill it with gravel and top with good draining soil. In essence you would be building a leech field to catch and drain flood waters. you could also pump pond water in there in fall to prepare for the spring thaw and storms. That way the pond will catch more water before it overflows.

Thanks again for your advice

The county called me back and said they would dig a ditch along the road.
They also said they would not be able to bring me dirt till the spring due to the muddy conditions we are having right now.(I am afriad by spring we will be flooded again from snow melting and spring rains) I feel it will be just as muddy in the spring.

We have a limestone quarry close by would that work?
Or is limestone to soft ?

A drain pipe in the pond would be tricky buisness.It would weaken the sides of the pond and the creek bank if I dig into them.
The previous owners drained the pond by digging a ditch so it drained into the creek.Now the spot were they met the creek right by the road is washing away.There is a huge hole that is making it's way back to the pond threw the weakened ground.
Where ever I dig it will weaken the ground and floods will wash away the softer areas ......

I have some new pictures for you all to look at.


This picture shows the spot where the previous owners made a ditch to drain the pond.(The pond is directly to the right of my son,straight ahead) The tall weeds are growing out of the ditch.This area gets bigger ever flood.It will eat it's way back to the pond if I don't fix it.
The pond leaks underground threw the week spot.



This is a closer shot of the area.You can see that the pond(again straight ahead) is level with the top of the creek bank.Making a drain pipe hard to put in.


This is a look down the creek on my side.


This is the other side of the road. On this side of the road the problem is the hard turn the creek makes.This slows the water. You can see all the road gravel that has washed into the creek clogging it.
The creek travels to the left and uphill about 200 feet then makes another 90 degree turn to the right. This is a hay field and I would think they made the creek like this so it would be easier for them to work a tractor in straight angles rather than a natural flowing creek bed.


I plan on buying a large pump at tax return time next year.I will be useing it to irragte the gardens.Then I could use it in the fall to lower to pond level

uncwnellsbefore; you do anything, I would get the flooding problem under control. Otherwise, you will keep losing fish and plants to overflow.

We are tring to figure out how to fix the flood problem.I will not do any landscaping or stocking of the pond until it is fixed.

 

[ddyerfamily]

A county truck and backhoe came by.
Thought they were going to do some work but turns out they were just rocking the road.

They just laid a new layer of small rock to our road.This will just wash off the next flood we have. It is such a waste and ends up clogging the creek downstream from us causing more problems.

It was such a tease to have the equipment here and getting nothing done to fix the problem.

They do have nice equipment here are a few pictures I snapped.










I also priced rock yesterday.I figure it will cost $300-600 to fill the ditch and that hole by the creek with rock. To have the company bring it and spread it is the high end of the price.To do it myself would cost $150 a load of rock and I have no Idea how much the neighbor (with the backhoe) would charge to spread it.

It is alot of money either way.....but I guess it could be more.

 

[pondkeeper]

So how is it going?
Did they bring dirt for the berm or is that just going to have to wait?
I agree that the berm is your best bet. I would not dig any ditches on the house side unless you can create a channel that will actually divert water to somewhere else. Otherwise the ditch will just create a bigger problem.

If there are any construction projects going around there, they will often pay you to take dirt. My neighbor just got 25,000yds of dirt from a new hospital build. They payed him to allow them to dump it on his property.

I trust you have inspected the culverts for any blockage? They also need to be level or angled properly

As for Summer, a water spray does wonders for oxygen. It will keep down the late spring algae bloom.

 

[ddyerfamily]

So how is it going?
Did they bring dirt for the berm or is that just going to have to wait?
I agree that the berm is your best bet. I would not dig any ditches on the house side unless you can create a channel that will actually divert water to somewhere else. Otherwise the ditch will just create a bigger problem.

If there are any construction projects going around there, they will often pay you to take dirt. My neighbor just got 25,000yds of dirt from a new hospital build. They payed him to allow them to dump it on his property.

I trust you have inspected the culverts for any blockage? They also need to be level or angled properly

As for Summer, a water spray does wonders for oxygen. It will keep down the late spring algae bloom.

Thanks for your post.

The county has not showed up yet to talk with me about the ditch/berm.
I am going to call them again.

The colverts are not blocked.I do not know about the level or angle,they look level.one is higher than the other.

How do I make a water spray without buying a expensive water pump ?

I live way out in the mountains not much construction out here.
They are blasting a mountain near me maybe if I could find out who is doing the work.....