Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Pond Permitting

Really good information! Thank you!

Great info all, Thank You

We just built our pond last fall in VA with a permit from the CoE. We were told we need to keep the stream disturbance to 300 linear feet and less than a 10th an acre of wetlands disturbed. The CoE was good to work with other than they were very busy. We asked for 400 ft in our application along with 200 ft of stream bank widening above the pond to create wetlands in the back 100ft and stream of the pond. They came back and approved this without charging for the mitigation credits over 300 ft. It came across to me that they do have some leeway in the permit as long as you are creating habitat and not getting into a pond size that falls under the dam safety regulations. I'd be happy to share my experience if anyone wants more information. Just PM me. The land disturbance permit was our bigger sticking point which is ridiculous since we are creating an impoundment and the nature of the dam controls runoff. The project is one big catch basin!

That is good to know you had a good experience with the CoE.

I've had a wash that only carries water during a rain event. But since it carried more watershed than the local NRCS could approve for a water way I would have to get CoE involved. Decided to leave it "as is" because of the possible red tape involved.

I met with the corp of engineers on Tuesday.

Very frustrating! They basically said that any time you dam up a hollow or any watershed you are probably going to have to get a private permit and deal with this costly "mitigation"

They said even if it is a small ditch that only gets water in it after a rain, it is considered a water of the state and is going to fall under these regulations.

This pretty much prohibits any dam being built in hilly or mountain regions like WV that back up more than 300 ft of a ditch, stream etc...

How in the world can I build a 5 acre lake without backing up a ditch/stream etc... and damming up a hollow or getting runoff from several hills?

They said the ditch doesn't even have to show up on a map to qualify. If it has water in it after a rain, chances are it will qualify. They also told me the minimum in leu mitigation fee was $800 per foot of stream you impact!

Apparently, the regulations got much more restrictive in 2008!

I have no idea now how to go about looking for property to build a 5 acre bass pond

Something you might be able to do is build a series of smaller ponds. I actually like the smaller ponds because they are easier to manage. You could also dedicate them to LMB SMB,AND HSB.

Since you asked for ideas .... I don't know if this is feasible with your situation but, if it is, only make the dam high enough to backup the creek 300 feet then dig out as far and deep as you want on each side of the creek. Big pond but only backing up 300 feet of creek.