Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Controlling the water level in a dugout

Hi everyone. I am hoping to get some advice on the best way to control the water level in the 2 acre pond we just dug but haven’t yet filled. The pond has minimal water shed (roughly 2 acres), and has at least 36” of free board, so I’m not worried about a big rain event. I also don’t think I need to be able to use the overflow to draw down the pond. Instead I’m trying to figure out the best way to precisely control the water level.

From the edge of the pond to a nearby slope where I can drain excess water is about a 100’ away. The soil is uniform, perfect clay. Given this my thought is to dig a trench below water level, run a 100’ of 4” PVC pipe in the bottom of the trench, add some anti seep collars, compact the clay back, and then add an inline Agri Drain system in the middle of the pipe where I can control the water level. https://www.agridrain.com/shop/c85/...1/inline-water-level-control-structures/

I’m wondering how far below water level the intake should be to protect it from ice damage. I don’t think the ice would get thicker than 18” (Southern Ontario weather, similar to Northern Michigan), so perhaps putting the bottom of the pipe at 24” below water level would be enough.

What do you all think of this? Is 24” below water level deep enough to protect from ice, or should I go lower? What are your thoughts on this approach generally? Anything you would do differently? My goals are precise water level control, easy to install, and robust.

Thank you both for the feedback. We decided to go with an in-line Agri Drain box. We used 6” pipe, and put the top of the intake pipe 30 inches below the pond water level. Hopefully this is more than enough to keep it out of the way of ice. FishinRod I like your solution, it seems very simple and elegant. The only advantage I see to the Agri Drain system is being able to control the water level when the ice starts to melt. We are going to install a solid dock with the underside 9 inches above the water, so having the overflow operable in the spring should allow us to keep the water level consistent during the spring melt so it doesn’t raise the ice and pop the dock off it’s piers. We will see how well that works.

The Agri Drain box we ordered is 5 feet tall, so most of the intake is at least 4.5 feet below ground level, out of the way of frost. We also put two Agri Drain anti seep collars on both sides of the box, and packed it all well. As I told the guy packing it, this is the most dangerous part of the pond, so let’s get it right. He seems to have done a good job, so we will see what happens when we bring the pond to full pool.