Thanks for the input. There's about 14 yards between the pond and the ditch. I'll contact the road commission (?) on Monday and hopefully that'll be a good starting point in finding out whether I can do this.
Yes, unfortunately Michigan is very protective of bodies of water, amongst other things... someone even told me that I could be fined for disturbing the natural growth of the cattails in my pond!! Whether or not that is true I don't know. I cut them down anyway.
forevergreen, I did buy an electric submersible pump that I use from time to time to pump the water to the back pond, but having to go up and over the hill is tough for my pump and it barely makes a dent in the water level. It would be expensive to have a permanent system installed I imagine... having to run electricity and pipes underground that far.
