Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Benefits from moving water

I just bought a farm in SE Pennsylvania that has a 2 acre pond with watermeal problems. The pond is spring fed but has a creek that passes right by it. Pond is completely on my property and about 200 yards of the creek run through it. Assuming the appropriate government agency approved it (big assumption), would it be beneficial to have the waterflow from the creek pass through the pond? Does moving water and currents help anything? Or would it be asking for trouble by losing control over what is getting in the pond? The area is full of agricultural farms. I'm sure there is lots of manure and fertilizer around.

I would use the creek as a water source rather than a cleansing agent. If you need water, get it. If not, leave it.
Static fresh water is easier to manage than moving water.
If watermeal is your motive for exchanging water, you will ultimately trade one problem for another.

I could not agree more with Bob on this one. I have a pond that I cut into a creek to divert water in and let the creek run through the pond. While it is good to fill the pond with water, it also will fill the pond with silt and other stuff ( plants, animals, fish, upstream chemicals ... etc ) once the flow gets going enough after a storm and during spring run off. Also when the creek is really flowing it will erode the banks of the pond and create a huge run off that your dam and or run off system may not be set to handle.

What I have done with mine is that I had cut into the seasonal creek to divert water into it to fill. Once the pond was filled, I installed a cement dam with many 4" pipes with on/off valves through the dam. Thus it allows me to divert water into the pond when I need some and it keeps the majority out and flowing on its normal path when I am full. Also by doing it that way I am not getting the water at full flow. Before the dam I have a settling area where I can let the sediment/silt drop out prior to flowing into the pond. When that area gets full I can take a shovel and clean it out easily.

Thus long and short of it I wouldn't use the creek to circulate water, it will cause more problems than the one your trying to solve. Its much easier ( and cheaper in the long run ) to put in an aeration system to handle the circulation of water. The other benefit of the aeration system is the added oxygen in the lower strata of the pond, which in turn provides for more area for the fish and bugs to grow and help keep the bio mass in the pond in check.

Well there is my two cents. I wish you luck on your project.