Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam New Pond question on Siphon system

We are going to be building a new pond a hundred yards above our 1.5 acre pond, it will be prob 1/2 to 3/4 of an acre. I want to be able to lower the level during the summer to plant millet for waterfowl. Would you all recommend a Siphon system or something else ? Pond will hopefully be 12 ft at the dam . My builder was just planning on putting in an overflow pipe and a natural spillway but I like the idea of being able to drain some of the pond. Our 1.5 acre pond leaks pretty bad so being able to drain some water into in when it gets low seems to be a plus . Any help would be greatly appreciated

Siphon would work well for this, or you can have the pond constructed with a standpipe you can remove to allow water levels to drop to your design then replace. Or, during construction you could create a bottom drain and install a gate or ball valve on the backside of the dam to allow for draining. I've used a siphon and bottom drain effectively on my ponds - both work fine, but the bottom drain is a quick turn of the valve whereas I have to set up and reconstruct the siphon on every use. A permanent siphon would eliminate this step, obviously. Hope this helps.

thanks for the info, on the bottom drain I'm assuming that is in addition to the normal overflow pipe? Is there a place to purchase the bottom drain pieces including the valve ?

Here's an NRCS drawing you could use as a baseline for a drain. It shows a frost proof hydrant below the dam, but you could use what you needed - obviously you need to have the pipe and shutoff below frost line.

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1080338.pdf

It does not show a seep collar on the pipe through the core - maybe one is not required for ~1.5" pipe, but probably be safe to add it.

Tiger, I'm not familiar with "millet for waterfowl". Does it require a lower level of water maintained for a period, or just a one time lowering for the planting and then it can fill back up as nature would allow? The reason I ask is...

If the lower water level must be maintained, it would appear that two overflow systems could be installed. One for full pool (whatever your heart desires), and a second siphon system for lower pool. Once your lower pool is no longer needed the siphon system could be capped off (valve turned off, whatever) and frost proofed. Red's suggestions could be adapted to this scenario.

If it only needs to be drained for the day of planting, I'd be temped to setup a temporary trash pump system or a temporary pvc siphon system (unburied) to drain the pond. Then you have the temporary systems at your disposal for the other pond or otherwise.

Red, thanks for the drawing I really appreciate it.
Quarter, Millet can grow in the water but it needs to get established so I think 3-4 weeks without being in water would be best, was also going to plant corn and that would need 60 days minimum. I do have a trash pump if I need to drain it down but was hoping to find a solution that would allow me to maintain a lower level then let it fill back up in the fall