Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations POND VS LAKE

Just curious. At what point does a pond become a Lake. Is there definate line drawn between a pond and a lake.
I drove though Wisconsin a few weeks ago and The WDOT dug Some massive ponds. One of them is said to be 50ft deep. I would think something that big would be a lake as it is huge. Just got me thinking what the definition is for a pond vs a lake.

It's a lake if it's mine. It's a pond if it's someone else's.

Founding editor Mark McDonald used to love this question and his answer is a classic.
He said, "If it is three acres and yours, it's a pond. If it's three acres and mine, it's a lake."
I'll always remember chuckling the first time I read that, back in 1992.
The 'standard' is if it is less than 5 acres, it's a pond.

I have the Michigan legal answer since I am a graduate of the LAKE & STREAM LEADER INSTITUTE: In Michigan anything over 5 acres is considered a lake and 9ft deep, it is considered a water of the state. That means you have to follow the DEQ rules and pay for permits to treat, etc. If you have an outflow to another BOW it makes it worse. We had to have 2 permits and 2 licenses to do our fish kill. However, since we are not a natural body of water we have no legal Riparian rights like those on "real" lakes. We do fall under the Inland Lake Act or something to that effect. It is all so complicated.

So, if I lived in Michigan, and dug a 5.1 ac lake on my property that didn't link to any other body of water, the pond wouldn't technically be mine? (I'll bet Mi. wouldn't help with the property taxes at all tho!)

It is crazy isn't it? Michigan has some wild and strange laws. Last week the DNR & MDEQ merged. It was like that about 15 years ago, theymerged the 2 agencies like they used to be. Ten acres is another benchmark, at under 10 you get treated under a certificate, over 10, you are under a permit. The certificate allows for whole lake treatments, water dye, etc. That is surface acres, not depth of water, really strange. Poor treatment guys have to post every single home, between the water and the back of the house, each time they treat. I posted with Fav Guy last summer, it is a dangerous duty, rotting stairs, vegetation that can hit you in the eye. Then the idiot residents who complain about "a staple in my birch tree," "these staples can fall out of a tree and someone can step on them," and on and on. Makes you wonder.

My three acres are a lake. Based upon two undisputed facts:

1. It's three acres and it's mine.

2. The local folks named it Hidden Lake and I'm not gonna argue with the local folks.

As you can see, when I created my screen name I was being modest.

I've always heard that only God can make a lake and everything man made is either a Pond, Tank, or Resevoir.

The realtors that I know will market anything over an acre as a lake when selling a property.

My 4 acre body of water is a lake because it's mine, I dug it, and I named it Lake Marabou.

Eddie

I was always told if you can walk across at its longest points its a pond. Hummm go figure.

Except when I'm logging on here, they are all tanks.

This is the best defenitione I'w found
http://www.aquahabitat.com/ponds.lakes.ed.html

The author of that website (I've spoken to him on the phone) makes some good points but I disagree with the following two criteria that try and differentiate between ponds and lakes.


Roughly the same water temperature top to bottom

Deep water is much colder than surface during summer

I've seen temp differences in even small ponds from top to bottom and especially in summer, and I know so have others here. I've actually seen a thermocline in less than 2 meters of water!

The difference between ponds and lakes can be hazy and there can be quite a difference in opinion from person to person. In New England I've even seen 100 acre bodies of water called "ponds."

Definition of a pond: Someone who has a pond.
Definition of a lake: Someone who has a lake.

WHAT ME WORRY

Lakes are made by nature and have wave action.

Ponds are made by nature and don't have wave action.

Reservoirs are made by man and have wave action.

Tanks are made by man and don't have wave action.

OK, that's my opinion on the matter. But I still would call any body of water I owned a pond or lake. Anything over 10 acres is a lake in my book.

I was in the store the other day and I head these people talking about the rain and they were saying the store needs to do something about the lake in the parking lot!! Humm go figure.

Now the question becomes what is the defination of a wave?

I wonder when does a lake become a sea or a sea a lake??????????

A wave, something big enough to swamp your boat? Big enough to surf... HAHA

I'd say a lake becomes a sea when it has noticeable tides. I know some of the Great Lakes have mini tides, but most of the fluctuation in water level is do to wind action.

Black sea ? no tide

I like Black Lake better... HAHA

there a lot of inland seas around the world that are a lot smaller then the grate lakes

Yes, they should be called lakes...

Didn't we have this discussion about the appearance of the chicken or the egg.

Nobody can say we don't have deep thinkers here on pond boss.

That link gave me an idea to siphon all the water and then start a forest fire to deepen my pond/lake/tank/resovior/sea.

My man-made body of water is about 2 acres. I live in the western North Carolina mountains, and have struggled with the issue for calling my BOW a lake or a pond. Somehow I thought it was classier to have a lake rather than a pond, but 2 acres just isn't enough by the standards listed in this thread to make mine a lake. So I have decided to call my BOW a TARN - which is a fancy literary word, I learned today, for "a small mountain lake."
tomte