Lining a pond bank with rock can help with bank erosion and water turbidity caused by it.

Happened to be out yesterday and noticed a muddy streak of water heading off across the pond. It was a very windy day. It looked like the muddy streak was coming from somewhere out in the pond toward the bank.

Upon further examination the muddy water was in fact coming from a small portion of the bank which had exposed clay. The waves were washing the clay into suspension then the undertow current was taking the muddy water out in the opposite direction of the wind and waves. So what looked like muddy water coming in from the center of the pond was actually muddy water moving out.

Earlier this summer I had taken the backhoe and deepened this area of the pond shoreline. What originally was intended as a swimming area with a gently sloping bank lined with fine gravel (man sand) turned into a huge FA bed. I also found we really liked swimming off the dock instead of the bank anyway. So this area was deepened. Most of the near shore was still rock lined though.

But in one small area the backhoe had come close enough to the high water line that clay was exposed. This small area was where the turbid water was coming from. Took the loader and sprinkled 2-3" rock out into the water in this area and shortly the streak of muddy water was starting to go away. The rocks were breaking up the water and discouraging the clay to go into suspension. Problem solved.

Point is, rock lining around a pond shoreline will definitely help with pond turbidity if the pond is exposed to wind and the dirt or clay is prone to suspension. My shorelines covered in rock are slowly becoming vegetated and eventually will not even visually be able to tell the rock was ever there. But it will still be there, below the roots of the plants, in case wave erosion tries to dislodge some of my bank.

Thought some might be interested in the pictures. The first and second pictures are of the bank area showing the turbidity caused by the erosion (003 and 005). The last picture (004) is a portion of the bank a few feet away where the rock is properly protecting from erosion and showing clear water like it should be.

Without the rock lining the shore line I'm satisfied that at least part of the time I would have a muddy looking pond. Just this small 3' of unprotected section with the waves pounding it was causing a significant streak of muddy water flowing out toward the pond center.






Attached Images
003.JPG 005.JPG 004.JPG
Last edited by snrub; 11/04/14 10:27 PM.

John

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