Hi Y'all,

We bought a place, 13 acres w/ a well established 1 acre pond. There are a lot of nice fish in it, bass & bluegill, big as a dinnerplate. We've added
18 grass-carp to eat up some of the moss. And we've added 2K fat-head minnows for feed.

I posted some time back about the trees & brush on the dam. And, I am slowly removing them, as I get to it, the willows first, then the river birch. It takes time.

Now, I have other questions. There is a 5" or 6"
black plastic pipe going through the dam. but it appears to be stopped up, Probably with roots.
It does not release any water.

So, every time it rains a bit, the water goes out the overflow, in the dam. This is nothing but a shallow ditch about 6' or 8' wide. It has been that way since we moved in, 2 yrs ago.

Am I in danger of losing my pond from a dam breach? It seems not have hurt it so far. It's not washing out, so far.

Do I need to line that overflow ditch with concrete, when the water gets a little lower, this summer.
Do I need to attempt to clean out the overflow
plastic pipe?

Thanks for any Comments or Advice. This Forum seems like a good place to get information.

'Til later,
Old John

i would think your overflow pipe is a major problem.if i understand the question water is going threw the pipe then into the dam.if so,it's a matter of when the dam breaks not will it break.this needs to be fixed as soon as possible.i do not think you need concrete on the dam,very few people do this.i do know one man who put concrete on his dam and water got under the concrete and he did not know until the dam blew out.as far as the pipe,yes you need to get it opened so water goes out the correct way.thanks.

Maybe I'm not understanding the situation, but what Old John described as an "overflow" sounded like a natural spillway. If the spillway is accomodating the rainfall, then what is the problem? If it is not, then yes, a dam problem may be imminent.

By accomodating I mean the spillway carries sufficient excess water to prevent the water level from ever reaching or exceeding the dam height.

Has your water level ever reached or exceeded the dam height?

I'm with MeadowLark on this one.

What you have on top of your dam is called an "emergency overflow" which is a contingency if the overflow pipe cannot handle the flow. I would line the emergency overflow with stone and not even mess with expensive concrete.

As far as your overflow pipe, you probably should try and clean it out somehow, but if your emergency overflow can handle the flow easily I wouldn't worry to much if it can't be done.

For what's it worth I would use an "emergency overflow" any day over any kind of plumbing. (With the exception of plumbing one pond to another). I had my contractor remove the overflow pipe he put in my 3/4 acre pond as water was working around the pipe and creating a leak. Seems he "forgot" to install an anti-seep color (Probably more like he was cutting costs). Anyway, I now have an emergency overflow lined with stone that feeds into a pipe that is ABOVE GROUND before it dumps into a ditch and have not had problems since. I'm a big believer in the KISS principal. Water loves to work it's way around pipes, concrete etc.

BTW, why plant fatheads into an existing pond? IMHO you just threw good money away. They are just an expensive short lived snack in an EXISTING pond vs. a brand new one. Hopefully there weren't any rough fish mixed in with the fatheads.

Hi Y'all,

THANKS!

Yes, the Overfow/Spillway does handle any excess water, even when we had a 4" rain in 2003.
It handles it fine.
I was just concerned when I read some of the threads about replacing pipes, standpipes & such.
What we have is working. But, I thought maybe we "needed a pipe". I won't fix what isn't broken.

As for the FH minnows, I thought maybe they would provide a food source for the predatory bass.
We have caught a couple in the 18" to 20" size.
Most of them are 12" to 14", though, and you can
see a lot of smaller bass.
DSW Sharon & I just catch & release.
When my sons come up from Evansville, though, they always take a cooler of fish home.

Thanks again for the information.
'Til later,
Old John

I agree with everyone on this one. The overflow or emergency spillway is fine. However, Outdoor is also right. Something is stopping up the pipe and could cause a problem by it's possible lack of integrity. If it is roots, you could be in serious trouble. I would concrete it or totally stop water from entering it in some way. Or, maybe take it out and thoroughly repack the area.