To Pond Pros and Mad Scientists alike,

I am so grateful for the information that is shared on this board. Not being a real pond pro, I do not post frequently, but enjoy this forum immensely.

Construction has begun on a new 2 acre pond, and I am looking forward to incorporating many of the ideas that I have gleaned from this board. I am fortunate to live in an area where the NRCS provides great service to those considering ponds on their sites. I involved them in two ponds a few years ago and was very pleased with the results. The first ponds and the new pond are watershed ponds and were created by building a dam across a draw in hilly land. The same engineer has designed this new pond as well.

In the earlier designs and in the new design, the ponds include a 6" through the dam overflow pipe with two anti-seep collars and trash guard. In addition, the ponds have 1 1/4" inside diameter perforated PVC stand pipes that have a shutoff valve on the outside of the dam for stock watering or draining water from the pond. In addition, there is an emergency spillway above the overflow pipe so that if the overflow pipe could not handle the outflow, then water could exit via the emergency spillway.

My question is this. Do I need the standpipe in addition to the overflow pipe and emergency spillway, or are there other ways to draw the water down if needed? The engineer says that this feature is optional, and they will approve the pond either with or without the stand pipe system.

I personally have not used the stand pipes at all on the other ponds and just wonder what the feeling of the folks here are on the necessity of these in addition to the overflow pipe. I am also wondering how well those PVC valves on the outside of the dam may function years down the road? (They are located in about a 6" PVC pipe sunk into the ground vertically, and you can turn them by using a "T" handle tool like you shut off a conventional water district line to a house with.) My NRCS engineer is non-committal on the need for a stand pipe. He indicates that they recommend them for being very useful were one to need to draw down the pond for mgmt purposes or for other reasons. On the flip side, he also stated that it is one more thing going through the levee and that if not properly installed can cause problems.

Maybe someone on this list that can speak to the necessity or value of the standpipe (when in addition to the overflow pipe and spillway) and their potential reliability years down the road. Or, are there other methods of drawing down a pond for mgmt purposes in the absence of the stand pipe that work as well.

Thanks!

2ac, 1ac, .5ac, .3ac,