Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam Spillway dilemma

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question..but new to this site..

I am in the planning stage of building an 1/2 acre pond..and I have encounter a for a better word a code violation..

Simply put you can not allow water to flow form your own property to an contiguous property.. There are no streams or creeks in which to permit the overflow from the pond to move to.. We get an annual rain fall of about 52 inches a year.. so once the pond is full.. where will the water go..

Any suggestions would be helpful

Thanks
Airwreck

Welcome to Pond Boss, Airwreck.

Will your pond be in Barbados?

If you are saying that there is no place for you to create a spillway for your pond that would avoid violating any adjacent land owners rights, I'm not sure how that will play out.

If I am reading your question correctly, I would think you have to try and strike a deal with one of your neighbors, maybe even a shared usage of the pond.

If this is for a pond in Barbados, I'm in over my head.

Anyway, welcome again and let's see what others say.

Sunil
Over mine also...maybe we should do an onsite inspection?
Air
There are many experts who should chime in.

I suggest we get the on-site consult scheduled right away.

What??? I don't get it...everyone where you live has barriers or something to keep all the rain that falls on one property from moving onto another's?

What does the water do now where the pond will be?

All the pond will do is catch water that moves into it. Once it's full, the water will do what the water did before the pond was there...unless you radically change the landscape around it.

I'm visualizing a neighborhood of many small depressions so water will stay where it falls and not move from place to place...

Those regulations sound contrary to what I expect, also. In many (most?) places in the States, adding a pond CANNOT stop water that used to leave your property from leaving it in the same place.

Sunil, I think Lusk needs to have a PB Conference in Barbados to study this issue. If we can convince Bob, then we just have to tell our wives.

I'm in. What kind of beer do they have in Barbados?

Will Otto fly across open water, or are we talking F-250 on a ferry boat?

I think that you need a CPA as a member of the Barbados stike team to deterimine the financial and/or tax ramifications of any potential solution. Although I'm not familiar with Barbados tax code if selected I will purchase "The Complete Idiots Guide to Barbados Tax Code" AND "Barbados Tax Code For Dummies." Come on, what do you say, don't you think you NEED a wise crackin CPA on your team?

JHAP, I believe your skills at the Limbo Dance will be a determining factor in your participation.

C'mon you guys...(and me).
We're gonna lose another one with all this goofin'. Let's get serious. We have a great opportunity to gain all this knowledge about ponds on a Caribbean island.
-
I sure hope this isn't one of Rad's practical jokes.

Brettski, we're just waiting for further information.

As Moderators, we should not encourage JHAP to answer the question "How low will you go?"

But seriously, I believe we are awaiting reply from Airwreck to Sunil's real questions:

It wasn't me.

I remember that some residential communities had a similar code. But, it was intended to control draining swimming pools. A permit was needed, of course, and the water needed to be drained directly onto the street where in entered a storm drain.

If that is the case in this situation then there is at least a possible solution.

Last time I was in Barbados they were having a hurricane, can't imagine what kind of spillway would be required for that run off.

The beer might be Red Stripe?

Sorry for the delay I only check mail once a day

Yikes what can of worms I have opened.. Ratz to bad I don't have a pond to use them with..:-)

Yes the pond will be in Barbados..

What the water does now..Hummm..the land sucks it up in a way..
But the nature of the soil we have discovered when excavating for the house is .. what I have read so far is first very red clay ...then below that blue clay.. There is a natural dip in the land and it will be perfect for a pond.. and when it rains it stand in this natural dip until either it evaporates or as I said before sucked up by the land and that can take anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks.. So far I have not seen a big enuff rain to see what happens if the dip gets filled and then where does it go.. Hummm maybe this spring.. when the rainy season begins. up until now the dip has been filled with brush that the land developed pushed in to "hide" the dip from the buyer..

As for my neighbors They are a cane field..

There are no storm drains here.. imagine if you will when is rains..it pours.. and the streets flood .. and water everywhere..As I joking tell my wife..the island just got flushed..

One person I have talked to about this suggested.. a suck well.. this is a term for a very deep well in which the water could drop into and the be sucked up my the water table.. but I don't know how this will work in the long term..

The idea about talking to the owners of the cane field is a good one..Will give it a shot..

Lastly.. We DON"T limbo here..ROFL.. or at least that is only for silly toursit.. we do what is called Wuking UP..If you have ever seen Dirty Dancing.. well that's for kids compared to Wuking Up..

The Beer here is Banks.. a world famous beer.. Won may awards.. but Hey! why come here to drink beer.. We are the creators of RUM!!!! Now That's a Man's Drink..:-P

Thanks all

Jeez, a suck well would require an act of Congress over here for fear of contamination. Check that; even Congress would get vetoed.
Red and blue clay; sounds like gold to me. How far down did you dig your test holes? Do you have any idea how far down the clay reaches?
The last time I had Wuking Up, it was served with rice. (at least I thought it was rice)

If unimproved ground really sucks up rain water, maybe you need a dry pond below the wet pond. Water proof the wet pond with clay. Let the dry pond remain native (sandy) soil. When the wet pond overflows, the water goes into the dry pond until it can sink away. The size of the dry pond would have to be based on how much rain water would need to tbe stored, come the worst rain event.

Rum, ahh my favorite poison. In order to make the team and with assistance of enough rum I'd limbo, I'd Wuk Up, heck I'd River Dance if I had to. What I lack in skill I'd make up for in enthusiam.

Can I go can I please?

Airwreck, Please ignore the nonsense. It's great to have you aboard and welcome to Pond Boss.

"You want the truth, you can't handle the truth." Jack Nicholson

Where to start when answering all these questions.. Hummm

A dry pond if not a solution.. there will be no space for it.. the total area of the land is 2 acres.. and 1/2 acre is for the house 1/2 acres for the pond.. 1 acre for the fruit and cocco trees..

A suck well is a very common thing here.. They are no big deal..You just dig down to bed rock.. which is coral rock..very pourious.. and things just suckaway..lol There are a lot of things that would make you shudder that can be done in a 3rd world country that you can not get away with in the US..I'm an Ex-PAt so I know.. There are very few codes here.. They have JUST started building codes.. and what a joke they are..GRIN..

OH Rad you must have been here durring Ivan.. and that was a weak hurricane to say the least.. Where I live we got only wind..and no rain..but the island to the south got really wacked..Grenada.

All the pond will do is catch water that moves into it. Once it's full, the water will do what the water did before the pond was there...unless you radically change the landscape around it.

When reading these post again.. I like this argument..I will use it with Town and country planning..It makes a logical case..for the spillway..

When you say water prrof the wet pond with clay.. Help this tiny mind and explain that process???

MR Moderator No worries.. about silly Banter..I a tuff ol bird and can take it as well as dish it out.. :-) so let them be silly.. I not get vexed..

Red Strip.. Is a Jamican beer.. Not Bajan..

Ok how about Mount Gay rum, is that local? I know it is good.

The anti run off code baffles me, I live in a 3rd world country and there are some interesing codes and even more interesting code enforcement. What happens here is a do it and see approach, there is near 95% success rate with that method, us expats tend to error the other way and go ask permission, permits for code violations cost a little more than permits for non-permitable things but it almost always works out.

Here is a guess, a suck well is the escapable answer to the problem, it would need to be a very large hole to handle a major rain, so the suck well must be just a compliance remedy.

Now your Talking Mt Gay rum..

Yeah I know things can be weird and it is easier to as for forgiveness then permission..

As to the suckwell.. This was not told to me by Town planning.. but a contractor.. and I think they just didn't know what to do..

relating to the run off.. Living where I see you live.. you have much more space I suspect.. this island is very densely populated so the concern is what effect if any it might have on a neighboring village..The irony here is that we have a water shortage and this would be a grey water cistern..

I will keep you folks updated on the progress..

Airwreck, can you post any pictures?

Yeah I can.. I will break out the digital tomorrow.. and Upload them.. Figured that was going to be a request ..:-) asked my wife about her's this evening.. and she said they really didn't show what I needed..