Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Advice on managing a pond in a flood plane

Hello everyone, been reading up on the forums for the last ten years. I’ve always wanted to make a post to get some advice or thoughts on how to manage my pond, or maybe I’m just trying to vent, I don’t know. I’ve owned the property since 2015. I’m located in northern Ohio, a few miles south of Sandusky Bay. The pond is 1 acre and is wooded. It is 10’ deep in the middle, clay bottom. It is contained with no in/out flow, except for flooding. I live on an island between two branches of a creek. It’s flooded every year since living there. I would say an average of 4 times a year, as much as eight, to varying degrees. Sometimes it floods enough to just top the pond off and dilute to water. Sometimes its a complete change over of the water. This year i went from April to April without a flood, which was a first. I have never stocked the pond myself but is has LMB, BG, crappie, catfish/bullead, shad, carp, 1 goldfish, and any other fish that get in during flood events. I caught a pike a few years ago. There’s also PK shrimp, frogs, crayfish, turtles, fresh water mussels, plenty of snakes and muskrats. The dominant plant that grows in pond weed, which i have been letting grow, except up front where we swim. Ive got some arrowhead that showed up naturally. I’m currently trying to get a patch of pickerel weed established and am experimenting with eel grass in one area. The only thing I add is dye so we are not looking at/swimming in a mud hole. I have a aerator with 2 bottom diffusers. Visibility in the pond is not great, maybe 8-10” at best, almost zero after a flood. I would like to manage the pond for a natural state, lots of wildlife and good fishing. Swimming would be second but is becoming more of a consideration with my children getting to swimming age. I would really like to improve water clarity for the fish and I’m sure my plants would appreciate it too. I have been considering gypsum or alum sulfate but am i just wasting my money if it floods again a week or month later? I would potentially have to do it multiple times a year. I already burn through hundred of dollars in dye a year. I know there are maybe some more expensive solutions, building the banks higher or a “bog” filter but those are not realistic at this time. I also work on the muskrat population ever year and plan on working on my carp angling skills this spring but the main cause of turbidity is sediment from the creek. Am I fighting a losing battle? Is throwing dye at it all i can do? Anyone have any thoughts or experience with similar issues? Does anyone know of a source in northwest ohio for bulk gypsum or alum? Here are a few pictures one from a few years ago, mid summer and one from earlier this month. Thanks, Jordan

Look for a Helena Chemical dealer that deals with Aquatics. Try the Helena Chemical dealer that supplies herbicides for farmers and they might be able to direct you to which division has the aluminum sulfate. You may need to buffer it with hydrated lime - it all depends on the pH and how much you need to use. You will need a tote to mix it in with water, and 2 pumps. One to pump water into the tote, another to pump water out to spray in the pond. You will need 2 people. One to keep adding material to the tote, another to spray it in the pond. Wear the proper PPE. It will seem daunting at first, but the more times you do it, the easier it becomes. Rinse the equipment thoroughly when done. Pumps can be purchased from Harbor Freight and make sure to buy the extended warranty, you will be using it.

Work on the muskrats. Conibears or colony traps. The catfish/bullheads/carp/koi contribute to the turbidity problem. Maybe look into a modified fyke net? Sediment comes from the creek, but after a month or so it should settle out. Do a jar test to see if the sediment is staying suspended due to mechanical action (fish) or an electrical charge imbalance (which alum will fix).

With the flooding, you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Dye and figuring out what is causing the sediment to stay suspended will be the biggest bang for the buck. There is a few threads about alum and clay, I"d read them all and take notes.

Learn how to calculate how many acre feet of water you have in the pond. Measure the depth with a string and a weight. Don't guess. Measure the surface area of the pond. You will need both measurements to calculate Ac/Ft

When you do the jar test, if the water doesn't clear by it's own in a few days, then alum in the answer. Start with 300# per ac/ft of water and 150# of hydrated lime per ac/ft. Make sure you have a pH pocket pen, to take quick pH readings. You can adjust the pH of the pond during application by adjusting how much you add of each. That number I gave you is a rough baseline. .

Are the "floods" typically only 1-3' above the elevation of your pond?

If so, you could build a berm around your pond. A 3' tall berm would not be that expensive, and would not need to be sealed. (It would be acceptable if it leaked a little water during a flood stage, just not silt and invasive fish.)

If it then took a "five-year" flood event to reach your pond, your fish management and swimming investments would probably be cost effective over the long term.

Do you look over the pond from your house? If so, then a berm would probably significantly devalue that view.

Finally, in many jurisdictions, you are not allowed to build a berm (raise any type of embankment) in a floodplain. If you do plan to move dirt, then make sure you are within the regulations for any changes on your property.

Esshup, thanks for all the tips. I drive past a Helena location a fews times a week and it’s never crossed my mind. On Monday I’ll see if I can get a quote. I log all the flood events and I would be pretty safe July-Dec. Could maybe get down to one alum treatment if I wait until July, maybe even June. I already have two sprinkler pumps that could work but might take awhile. Thinking I could pick up a 375 gal IBC tote for mixing. I’m doing a jar test now, cleared right up with alum. Need to get out and take some measurements for figuring my acre ft.
FishinRod, I’d say water gets about a ft or so above banks of the pond. A previous owner did attempt to put a dike in along the tree line on the west side but isn’t effective. I often contemplate improving it but afraid the bridge crossing is the weak point. My house does overlook the pond and do don’t know if I would like the look of a berm.

Glad to hear the alum treatment worked!

Electrically charged clay particles can stay suspended a VERY long time.

If the alum works well, and you can have an enjoyable pond managed with the periodic introduction of some invasive species, then that should be just fine.

If not, then a 1-foot tall berm shouldn't be a deal breaker on the view from the house. The farther you move the berm from the edge of the pond, the better the visual appeal. Of course, the berm has to have 100% water exclusion to be effective. If there is a fixed low spot that you cannot alter, then that solution is worse than useless.

Also, the berm doesn't have to look like a wall, it could be made say 24"-36"high and 10'-20' wide if you had the room. That way it wouldn't stand out very much. Yeah, making it that wide would booger up a lot of grass for now, but you have to break eggs to make a cake.