Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Sediment Prevention

Does anyone have any ideas how to set up a sediment trap or catch basin to prevent muddy water from entering a lake?

Land upstream was recently purchased by another land owner and the property line was cleared. This area feeds the lake, but because of the area being cleared, I am getting muddy water into my lake. This area has been one of the primary sources of new water, but is not the only source. However, the water can be moderate to substantial due to the topography.

I am looking at ways to control the flow into the lake or to at least prevent the sediment from ruining the lake.

Btw, I love this site!

Build a wetland area.. I've seen a few different ideas here on the site.. Most of my water runs through about 200 yards of tall grass and it really don't seem to do much when it really downpours I can watch my whole pond transform to dirty starting from the inlet end..

How about a sediment pond?

Maybe talk to the new neighbor and see if wou could plant some grass to reduce mud rrun off.

Welcome to Pond Boss, DocTiger! Good suggestions have been offered so I won't repeat them other than to say a candid conversation with your new neighbors, including bringing them to the pond see just what you are experiencing, is an important first step. That interaction will help you define what other options you need to consider moving forward. If they agree to replant the area or put up silt fences or some such, that will help you plan your own actions. There are multitude of things you can do and you can search all of them here on the site. Check out the various threads on wetlands here and you'll get a ton of great ideas.

How about some pics of your place? We love pics!

Thanks for the responses. After I posted last night I found several other threads related to this that I missed upon my first search. I will check the wetlands threads.

I have the gentleman that build the lake going out this morning to see what he can do as a temp measure. He was scheduled to do some road work for me today anyway. He has a relationship with the landowner as well. Hopefully we can get him on board with us.

I'll put together a thread soon with pics about my project.

Temp. silt fence until the ground there is covered with vegetation?

For now, a temp silt fence should help.

The landowner is planning to clear cut and make the area a pasture. Looking at how he manages his herd and keeps the pastures up on the rest of his land, I may get lucky and it not cause a major problem. His pastures are sectioned and seperated with fencing and he rotates the herd around. Of course, I am concerned how the cow manure will affect me. I plan on talking with him Friday to see what we can work out.

In the meantime I have been educating myself on sediment traps and Floc logs. I may be able to set it up so that once his land is stable, I can manage the run off and prevent the sediment from continuing to affect the lake.

Hi DocTiger, and welcome to the forum!

Great advice here so far - I too would find the drainage areas and consider building a catch pond or catch wetland. The wetland vegetation will help utilize excess nutrients from cattle [nitrogen and phosphorous] but will also slow down the silty, turbid water and allow the particulate to fall and improve clarity once it passes through the wetland. If you have multiple drainage areas try to find the spot where they all convene and build it there.

A catch pond can serve in the same function, provided you allow vegetation to grow, but could also serve as a forage pond for you, too. When your forage [minnow species, shiners, ect.] reach appropriate numbers, net some adults and save them, open the valve/gate, and release the bounty into the main BOW. Refill, add saved adults, and repeat. I want to use this model myself someday.

Temporarily, silt fences and simple hay bales are cheap, readily available, and both help slow down and improve clarity of the runoff - I've used them both with success. Do you have any photos that can help us envision what you're facing?

Teehjaeh57- Thanks for the reply as well as everyone else who has offered suggestions. I am researching those options as well. The amount of land on the north end of the lake is a limiting factor as to what I can accomplish without the help or permission of the adjacent landowner. I just bought the land last month,so I want to do my best to get off on the right foot with him.

I will get some photos to post when I head up to my place this weekend. This has been a dream of mine for sometime. I have two boys, 13 and 8, that I have wanted to get out into the country. After searching for several years I finally found something really neat that will allow us to hunt, fish, ride 4 wheelers, and, well, just let my boys be boys!

The lake was stocked,but not really managed by the previous owner. By his own admission, he stated he had not fished it enough and so the fish population is not where it should be. The weather has been terrible here over the past month, so I have only been up 3 to 4 times. I have caught a few bass each time, but haven't really been serious about it. Just taking 30 mins or so to walk around the bank and get a bait wet. I see other things that I can do to help the fish, but for now, I just want to get control of what is getting in the lake in the form of runoff. Then I can shift my attention to the water quality and then eventually the fish. I hope that is the order in which I should be attacking this.

My goal is to have a place that kids can enjoy and we can catch some healthy fish that are of a nice size. If an occasional trophy bass is taken, that would be great! The previous owner's grandson caught a 9 lb LMB two years ago in the lake. So I think the potential is there to accomplish my goals.

Doc, if he rotates his cattle onto the new pastures, that might be a great scenario. Offer to split winter rye with him on the part of the pasture closet to your runoff.

You'll have the soil stabilized, and he'll have better soil if he plants permanent grass this spring.

TJ's right about the hale bales too. Square bails are cheap right now, and work great.

OK, second thought. If he is running lot's of cattle, then a catch pond will probably still be needed.

Just reread TJ's post. Dumb me just repeated it. He was right the first time.

Something I have done on 3 different bodies of water is build a road way around the upland side when there was a silt issue. After putting in the road with a covert I just simply dig a deep hole above the road way with an excavator. When the hole fills in with silt I just come back in and dig it out with the excavator. It allows access to areas of the property I would not normally have and serves a purpose as a silt catch pond with easy access.

That's a good plan Tums...I like it.

Next time you go fishing, get weights AND lengths on all species of fish that you catch. There are some relative weight charts on here that will help determine which species and which length range to pressure, and how much.

That is my thought as well. The road into the property runs over this area with a culvert in place. This could work as well. Thanks!

Your Welcome,
BTW you can also put a few hundred Gambusia minnows in the silt hole (if you live in warmer climates) to start a minnow forage area. Gambusia tend to work better for me than FHM in the silt because they give live birth and reach sexual maturity in a month after being born. Egg bearing fish can get there eggs covered by the silt. You can just drive buy and toss in some ground up fish feed while making rounds from time to time. When you see a bunch feeding you can sein some out and transport to the pond for forage.