Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam need to build a dam

I have been pumping my 1 acre pond almost every day and now it seems to be snaking through my land and into a neighbors yard on the other side of the street. If we get much rain this spring, he will have alot of water in his yard. Not something I thought about when I started maintaining my pond's depth. I either need to fill the culvert back up with dirt or build a dam. Filling the culvert with dirt would be the easiest but then I would still have my fish spread all over my land. My great idea was to dig another pond in the lowspot and let it fill up. My wife didn't buy that idea...HA !!

I have access to alot of clay because one of my friends is a builder and digs basements all the time. My thoughts were to make the dam about 6-8 feet wide at the bottom and slope it up to about 4 feet at the top. Make the dam about 5 feet tall with a drain at 4 feet. I think the length will be around 30-40 feet. Does this sound about right?

Mike, have you considered a siphon? What type of overflow have you constructed?

I have not done anything yet. Neighbor came to my house last night and asked me to shut my water off. I had been thinking about making a dam before this happened because I knew if we got much rain this spring I was going to have issues. Those that have constructed dams are the experts and I am ready for ideas on what I need to do. I will post pics of the area as soon as I get my camera back.

Does a siphon system let you have higher water on the dam whereas a straight drain type system has the drain pipe lower on the dam? Is that the advantage of the siphon system?

If I do a 3-4 foot dam on this end of the pond, the water is going to have alot of other terrain to flow into. I am not sure if it is best to let it flow into other parts of my land or have it flow out of the dam and across the road to the neighbors place.

Mike:
When I read your post I wanted to mention that if your dam has a 3:1 slope you will need to have 34' at bottom of dam. If you have more questions and would like to speak to me directly, call my office at 1.800.882.3478 or email me at [email protected] and Sheri will assist you in contacting me.
Otto

I have a question about your neighbor. You said that your pumped water is affecting your neighbor down steam, and you mention a concern about flooding him during rainy weather. Where did your pond drain prior to pumping?

Your pond looks like a natural depression so I assume it has drained towards your neighbor for many years. How would adding a dam stop your pond from draining the way it currently is?

A larger point I'd like to make, not so much directed at you, but at anyone who builds a pond or dam on their property, is that you (the owner) are liable for damages caused down stream. Just like the gentlemen in the "Bulge in my Dam" thread, if your dam were to fail when you had a full pond behind it, your neighbor would most definitely sue for damages and win. Because a new structure was constructed, and then failed and sent a large flow of water onto his property.

If his home and property lie in the natural drainage and there was nothing I could do to my land to route a high flow away from him, I wouldn't build a dam. You are less likely to be held responsible for natural runoff, but a dam breach is all your liability.

Just my 0.02

Erich

In my conversation we actually discussed the natural flow of the land. There is a pond about 1\4 mile away that supposedly has a pipe running from it towards our land. There is another pond at my neighbors to the west. It has a pipe that comes into my pond. From my pond the natural drain is to the north where there is a low area that has cattails in it and it is near the ditch. A culvert was placed at that location in the road that takes it to his ditch. From his ditch his land slopes down into a pond. To me it looks like this has been the path water has always followed. I am not a lawyer so I do not know the laws when it comes to these things. If my pond was constructed to hold rain in heavy downpours and I pump it full, am I held liable in a heavy rain that causes the pond to flood? His house sits on a bit of a hill so I don't see water going into his house. I was also told locally that I could put in a well for my pond. I do however know a guy that had the state show up at his house because he pumped his pond. Not sure if a complaint by a neighbor could shut my pump down or not.

I'd need a map to fully understand your area's drainage, but you really can't be held liable for runoff that is from natural, unalterd drainage. If your property drained 2cfs, just for example, during a large rain event before you did any work and building the pond hasn't increased the flow, then he can't really prove you've changed anything.

My concern is if your pond is full and the dam lets go in a large rain event, THEN you've just sent him a flash flood, and that would be your problem.

Another expample. If you paved your whole property and it drained the same directiong it does now, you've just made it so no water drains into the ground. Every drop runs off right away and your neighbor would see huge flows right after a cloud burst.

In respect to the EPA and other state agancies, increasing a flow like that is not leagle. Your only allowed to discharge runoff at the same rate as the land did before development.

I say see if you can move the water away from his house/developed property and if you build a dam, spend the extra time and money to make it safe so you protect yourself in the longrun.

I'll stop picking on your project now

Erich

Hey your not picking. I want everyone's comments, that is how you learn. Last spring my pond went from empty to full in a day. If the same thing happens this Spring, a dam isn't going to make a whole lot of difference. I could plug off the pipes coming from a neighbors pond, but then they may flood in a huge rain. If the land is unaltered then I guess things happen as they may. It's going to take some research to get it right.