Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond Flush Culverts

I have been and will always have to deal with DW and WM. I don't mind it until it becomes unfishable and raking it out every couple of weeks...sucks rocks Over the years, I have noticed on windy days it will pile up on certain shores depending on wind direction. Here is a project I titled flush culverts. The plan will be to hold back 4 - 6" of water using a flash riser board type design. With the right wind, pull the boards and let the DW/WM flow out of the pond. I'm sure its not novel and it may not work at all...but hey, it just might. Some pics from yesterdays install below.





Top Pond - SE corner. Culvert getting placed.




After Install Top Pond



Bottom Pond- After Install. East Bay



Bottom Pond - West of the culvert. Wind blowing towards culvert

Lots of work left to prove the concept! Hand dirt work, riser board install along with geotextile and rock rip rap around the culvert openings and shore line. More pics to follow as progress is made and video if it works.

I wonder if you could improve surface skimming of the DW by creating a floating skimmer in front of the drain pipe so the majority of the outflow is surface water and preferably duckweed.

I rely only on an overflow area, and it is very wide (4-5 feet) and level to reduce flow volume in any one area to prevent erosion. I do not have any DW on the pond, but I can watch all of those cottonwood fuzzies and floating debris make a break for the outlet on days when I actually have overflow. They head there much faster than I would expect.

Something like a heavy-duty feeding bucket with a slot/hole on one side to meet the pipe, but is only submerged 1/2-1/4 inch on normal flow days. Attach floats or something to keep it submerged just right to skim the surface or simply set it underwater on the bottom with some rocks.

1 year update and things learned....Flush culverts are working pretty well but with a couple of limitations.

The good:

The right wind and rain I can "flush" a lot of DW and thus nutrients out of a pond. I have a very simple flashboard like riser set up. I haven't done it yet but would like to calculate the volume of water exchanged.

The bad:

I have observed the following fish go with the water flow and thus end up being "flushed" out of the pond. LMB, YP, BG, BCP, and all kinds of fish fry. The bigger fish are easy to deal with but the fry I am struggling with.