Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond dug into a hillside gorge....

Hello all,

Have a question about a <1 acre pond that was recently constructed in the Brookville, Indiana area. My Damn looks great and there should be no problem collecting water as run off plus rain should fill it up nicely by next year and my natural spillway should work very nice in shunting overflow to the creek that is about 100 feet from the damn edge. My main concern is that when I had my neighbor construct this pond with his dozer the West side of the pond is virtually a straight down drop off from the edge as it was the side that leads up the hill. Also this will be the area where run off should be entering the pond. My concern here is over time the soil will slowly erode into the pond. I am wondering about options that could be available to prevent this soil from eroding. My thoughts were actually stacking large quary rock from the bottom to the top in this one area. Is it possible to actually use some kind of fencing material and anchor it into the bottom and bring it out and over the top and achor it above to hold back soil from eroding prematurely into the pond, or what about a water shed built farther up the hill to collect water and allow it to enter the pond in a gentle way so I can avoid a wash out from pummeling rain waters. Has anyone delt with this type of pond before? My thinking is that my best solution is stacking rock along that side unless someone has a better suggestion. Here is a URL to a Pond link picture that details what I am up against.

Thanks In Advance for your help,

E. Strohmier

That soil will slough. Either have the dozer grade the slope as a three (or four) to one, or use rip rap and rock the side. Either way, you should secure those soils. I would tend to recommend using heavy equipment, and create a better slope. Your pond becomes more safe, as well as prevents erosion. That side soil looks rich, and the soil on your dam looks solid. If you don't have topsoil on your dam, you need some. Think about removing some of that straight up and down soil, and move it on top of your dam, then widen your pond where soil was removed, and slope that steep dropoff.