Wow, all of this advice is great! Once again (I say this weekly to my wife), I am so glad I found PB!

there is no other way for us to run the outflow other than over her property (which is where it has flowed for the last 10 years). Ryan, I guess I could run about 400' of pipe across her yard (and through some woods) and have it empty out into the wetland directly, but I can't imagine the cost. What did your 150' pipe cost?

Luckily, we obtained permits when we built the pond, and had the pond and berms designed by a local environmental wetland company. We are not part of a wetland (we checked the designation before building), nor are we connected at any stream or the like. We just had a low spot that collected water. The soil here is full of clay, so surface water sits.

I have contacted a lawyer to help us with some initial discovery. I like the idea of seeing if she would agree to an independent evaluator. She does not trust the company we worked with, because we paid them. there seems to be lots of trust issues.

We contacted her last night via email to see if she wanted to meet out at the property. We could then discuss her and our concerns, and see if we could come up with a plan the we both can agree on. I have not heard back from her yet, but I am hopeful.

Until then, we continue to read about Michigan water law and learn as much as we can. The only blessing in this is that we don't need the water to run out of the overflow until next spring, so we have time.

On a happier note, I got my non trained BG to eat pellets today for the first time. What a rush watching them smack the surface!

Brian
Retired Coach

Just another day in paradise!