Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Pond Safety

I was reading a news report which involved a drowning in a pond and I thought" What are your responsibilites if you have a pond on your land ?" Clearly, if you own a swimming pool you need a fence but I don't know of any regulations as to the fencing of ponds? Should you post warning signs or do you think that would be counter productive. For my self, I have spoken to my neighbors so that they are aware of the pond and have asked them to talk to their children and show them the pond, but again I dont know if that in itself is asking for trouble.

A good liability policy should be a first start. Then you could go crazy. Lifesaving equipment (throw ring with rope?), signs, fences, are all options. Nothing is going to keep you 100% safe from a lawsuit if something happens, in my opinion.

As Shawn said, liability insurance is a must. $1 million in coverage is fairly inexpensive.

Thanks for the input.I checked with my insurance company I do have catastrophe coverage. I suppose that means in some sense I can sleep easier at night.

Hey, Osymandius...
I am unfamiliar with the term catastrophe coverage, but anything related to insurance sends me babbling into the corner wearing a pointy hat.
Where I come from, they call it a "personal liability umbrella policy". The first mil. of coverage is the biggest premium kick; for me around $200 annual. Every mil. thereafter is less than $100/per mil.
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(edit, as a sad state of affairs pertaining to legal liability) Shawn mentions the potentially defenseless use of lifesaving equipment installed on the site. In conversations with my atty about this broad category of liability concerning our pond and property, I came away feeling that the only committment one would make is properly marking the property for no trespassing and verbally delivering the same message in a good, neighborly tone (Dave Davidson's neighborly tone may be slightly altered for effect). Past that, application of additional presumed layers of protection could ultimately be twisted into "owner's knowledge of an existing hazard". One might wonder if installing a life ring at a pond sends the signal that this is a place that could be used for swimming. Or, worse yet, is it a place for swimming that the owner knew was life threatening.
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Slice it; dice it; it sux.

yes its aka personal liability insurance.

Never thought of the ring as allowing swimming. Good Point. I would erect large signs stating with full legal disclosure:

No Trespassing! By Trespassing, all trespassers give up any legal recourse from unintentional or intentional injury or death or damage to their personal property. Hazards on this property include but are not limited to trips, falls, drowning, shooting, bear traps, tiger traps, snakes, spiders, and very ill tempered grass carp.

I don't have near the poetic talent of Theo, but a guy has to try!

Brettski.....just paid my $1M policy through the "good hands" folks. A $200 bill.

One of the most important things, IMO, is to never let children (under the age of 18) on the property without the direct supervision of an adult responsible for them. That means the adult must be right there with them and not off having a beer or something.

I have extended coverage to protect me. However, I have found that the best defense is a good offense. After years of being on the wrong end of predator/prey relationships, I changed my outlook and made sure everybody in the area understood it. Now, everybody knows that I tolerate absolutely no trespassing.

I'm known around the area as "that fish guy". People ask for my advice, stocking help, etc. I'm always glad to help and I get an awful lot of inquiries. As you would expect, some wonder about my ponds.

One of the neighbors laughingly told me about his wondering about what size fish I had. Another neighbor told him "I don't know and I'm not going to find out. That old xxxxxxx is no bargain." I consider that a successful deterrant regarding both fish and deer. As an absentee land owner, I prefer to be offensive rather than defensive. But then, I've learned my lessons the hard way. BTW, those guys aren't anybody to mess with either.