Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? legally how big can you have/own a private lake

legally how big can you have/own a private lake

just out of curiosity

It might be a good idea to keep it all on your property.

I don't know if there is a legal answer!

I would guess state and local regs apply, especially if you're inside of city limits - but generically speaking if you have the ability and wherewithal to flood 100% of your property and you're not affecting a watershed or similar I wouldn't expect an issue. I know that in Illinois at least there is some regulation that has to do with the size of the levee and if it's over I believe 25' tall you need a corps of engineers site eval done. Otherwise bigger is better!

Check your state's safety requirements for dam and water capacity.

Every state or municipality is going to be different.

Most places there is no set size per se, but regulations regarding depth, dam height, water flow (inhibiting natural creeks and what not) and precautions about what happens if your dam busts and your neighbors don't own surf boards.

I'll make sure I give my neighbors surf boards as gifts if I build a big dam someday.

If you're the government it doesn't matter. We have a section of Lake Michigan off limits due to security issues by DHS. Bull***! It's produced at least 3 state records but none have been allowed due the area being "off limits."

For those of you that are curious it's just a rinky dink shipping port known as Burns Harbor.

each state probably is different
i couldnt find much about Texas limits
however if you go to building some huge project
that could endanger surrounding areas/towns
i am sure somebody from the gvt is gonna show up
and start asking questions

but i imagine if you got lots of money
you can do lots of things...

if your name is Trump, Gates, Perot, ect...
you could probably "grease the right wheels" and getter-her-done just about as big as you want up to a point.

under most circumstances I would think ponds under 75-100 acres would be do-able without a problem in most states if ya got the funds to do it, but over that is going to start raising some flags and worry.

plus it could depend on how much of the surrounding area you own. If you own 7000 acres and want to do a 200 acre pond/lake in the middle of it...then it might be ok, but if you own 300 acres and want to do a 200 acre pond it might worry neighbors.

Quite a few private Lakes in MI.

If you are going to Dam up something 5 acres and above around here, you will have to hire a PE Firm. Some of these make law firms look really cheap

?

Professional Engineering Firm. I am really working hard as to be not much more functional than a brick!

Older faculty members can get anywhere from $300 to $450/hour for consulting work. Oh and that is just an added "bonus" outside of salary.

Speaking of Michigan a friend in Gladwin told me about something that happened up there that really stinks. Even as strict as things are in Michigan someone with the coins and pull were able to allow a blue ribbon trout stream to be damned up to create a reservoir. It's private reservoir and only for a few select people. Don't remember the name or where it is but maybe some of the Michigan members know. I can ask him if no one here knows.

I haven't heard of that one, but it don't surprise me!

In a year or two, they will have the 31 bypass done. A township official (former state rep) purchased most of the property along the trek, and is now cashing in. Not illegal and is just business, but he runs a township that is pretty much bankrupt. Get's audited every year by the State. The legal fees they accumulate over a year are astronomical. It use to be the lowest property tax base around. Now it is one of the highest, and the township is still bankrupt! Glad I got out of there when I did.

Tax assessors would show up 3 or 4 times a year. They are quite the nervous bunch. One day I walked out of the office while a county assessor was taking measurements, and said "how's it going?", the guy jumped about 3 feet in the air. He was so shaky and nervous that he could not even write. I had a hard time seeing the clip board he was holding so I grabbed it. Told him that he was welcome here any time he needed to be. Property taxes shot sky high the following year.

Glad I sold the place, and the phase III environmental assessment I paid a chunk for was worth every penny.

Sounds about right for Michigan, no offense. I've heard so many horror stories from friends up there I would think twice about living there again. John Nelski gets harassed at least twice a year up there while hauling fish by your transportation department. The last time he was pulled over they told him he had a someone elses truck registration number ! He now has a copy from the the state to prove otherwise.

I've sent an email to the friend to find out what reservoir it is and where it is. It's a great example of cronyism.

Ever hear of Green River up here. That was a mess!, but they are operational now.

Another guy built two ponds up here for aquaculture purposes. He bermed up the spoil soils to actually create the pond's. Digging minimally down. MI Gestapo said he did not have proper permits to do that. The fact of the matter is, he did not need any permits, what so ever, to do what he did. A couple years in the system, and a pile of cash to the pond owner, the Judge agreed in the pond owners favor, but not after a huge, "sleepless night's" fight.

Another guy wanted to set up a baitfish operation in several pond's. He was denied by the local guv. Stony Creek tried to expand utilizing ponds, and the county denied the expansion.

People wanting to do such things in Michigan should be "keenly aware" of the "Michigan Right To Farm Act" This law trumps anything a township or county can impose on you. Not many know about this.

Oh yeah I heard all about Green River. Made no sense at all!

Also Stoney Creek's expansion denial. A business expanding in a rural farm area that adds to tax revenue and employs up to 30 plus people. No can do! Duh! There are some really short sided people out there in positions of authority!

We had the same thing happen here in Ft.Wayne, Indiana. An group of people wanted to start a fish farm in some abandoned buildings. Would have employed people, added to the tax base etc. They were denied because city ordinance said no livestock in city limits.

The venture went somewhere else. They are now the biggest yellow perch farm in the world. Ft. Wayne lost out due to narrow minded city council members.

What's ironic is not long after all of the above (including Stoney Creek) our economy tanks and city councils and government officials are scrambling for tax revenue.

I was looking at a property in Kentucky that could be ideal for my upcoming move and expansion...10 acres with 5, 1.25 acre catfish/shrimp growing ponds, 600 feet of creek frontage for unlimited, high quality water, plus a nice 3 bedroom brick home...all for only 100K...had to walk away because it is in the heart of a small city.

All I could envision is a pond having a die-off and the stench causing the town council to decide I was closing down....there are VERY valid reasons city's do not allow livestock!

But inside buildings?

biggest for us: shocked 1800 acre resvoir privately owned in FLorida.

JKB,

Here's what i got back from the friend on the blue ribbon trout stream that was damned up in Michigan probably because money talks. This is apparently 10 miles north of Gladwin, Michigan, where my friend lives.

The big lake that was formed by damming a blue ribbon trout river is north of me about 10 miles. There were TWO lakes formed from the dam...Lake Lancer is the big one and Lake Lancelot is the smaller one. The whole development (golf course, recreation area, restaurant, etc.) is called Sugar Springs. The original river is the Sugar River. The development has the finest homes in our county and MANY of them are "second homes" for the rich and famous who close them up all winter. The fishing (panfish, bass, and walleyes) on both lakes is fantastic, but it was a helluva price to pay for the loss of a great trout river. That's progress.