Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Runoff Variations

Wasn't sure where to post this one so I thought this was good place. I have about a .5 acre pond that I reworked last fall due to it leaking. I spent about 40 hours on a bobcat scraping and removing muck and cutting off a sand vein I found.It seems to be doing well but I have noticed my runoff has decreased. Two years ago my road commissioner put in a culvert across the road so I could get the runoff from the church's parking lot and the road which helped a lot. My biggest area of runoff is a two acre pasture on my property that gets going after we get a downpour. Well the other day we got 2.25" of rain in a couple hours and I happened to have a stick in the pond trying to see how it was doing. I only ended up with 3.25" rise in the pond level. Not good enough. Last year we planted big bluestem grass in that pasture and it and regular fescue is doing really well this year. It looks really good (about 3ft tall already) and it's great cover for the wildlife but I think it has stopped all of my runoff. It is very flat ground and I have a few ideas to fix the problem but not sure this is what is causing the problem. Does anyone have any experience with different ground covers and small areas of runoff?
Option 1: Keep it mowed.
Option 2: Cut paths with skidsteer all over the pasture putting the dirt in other areas creating mounds and valleys to get the water moving quicker.
Option 3: Drainage tile. Would this help at all?
Option 4: Leave it and just see how it does as time goes on.
Option 5: Put the horses on it for a couple years. Their pasture is like concrete.
Any ideas,suggestions or other options?

Could you just channel the runoff area?

What do you mean by channel Dave? The runoff itself has a ditch that runs along the driveway right in to the pond. It just seems like it is soaking in before it can make to the ditch. I thought about cutting more channels throughout the pasture directing to pond so it wouldn't have to run all the way to the ditch. It has always taken a good downpour before it would produce because it is flat and the top layer is pretty soft soil. But the rain we had the other day should have produced more runoff as it did before when we mowed it. I guess I just didn't expect to see such a difference between mowing it and having 3' tall grass there. The rabbits and everything else are doing great since I planted the bluestem but I might just have to go back to mowing.

I just got a good rain, finally, this past Saturday morning. Not much runoff due to the hay field my pond is in was not yet cut. The haying is about two to three weeks behind this year because of many, many days of clouds and drizzle.
The runoff would have been much greater had the hay already been taken up.

I guess I just didn't even think about ground cover affecting runoff. Lesson learned.I might try and mow just part of it and leave some for the wildlife.

Jason, I expect it might be the bluestem. Mine grow in clumps and could effect runoff.

Problem fixed. I went out and started mowing the pasture and the wife is finishing it up now. She thinks I tear up her mower so she doesn't like me using it, so I just agree so I don't have to mow. I left some for the critters and mowed the rest. Wait and see how it does. Considering the grass is about 3 feet high the Dixie Chopper did pretty good. Thanks everyone.

Jason,
That's funny. The last time we were up to our place, I barely got a chance to mow any either. I can't seem to get my wife off of the tractor. My better half has decided that we need another tractor and brush cutter...go figure!

Yeah ever since we bought that mower she took over and hasn't looked back. I don't mind, most of our ground is cleared the way we want it now so the fun stuff is over. She is right that I did go through a few mowers when we bought the place but those were 200 dollar craigslist mowers. The people we bought this place from was not exactly good at cleaning up and I was always surprised at what you might find in the weeds. Tractor parts, weights,old pool liners, whatever. It has been about 7 years since we bought the place and its hard to remember how bad it was. It's been a lot of fun transforming in to something we want and if mowing makes her happy, hey works for me.

Our place was the same way. It took two years to clean it up by hand and get so we could keep it mowed. Overgrown , downed fences way off the property line, old car and haying parts, sheet metal, pipe, culverts, glass bottles, lumber, plastic, etc, all overgrown by brush and weeds. I don't understand why people trash up lands like that. It made for a good bargaining chip when buying it though.