I believe I have added a couple of pictures to help explain my question. I have a newly renovated pond that is surrounded by dirt everywhere and mud when it rains just because it is a renovated pond. I am very excited about it and want to make sure I do all I can on the front end to enjoy this pond for a long time. We plan on building a house on this property. My question........the main water run off is not surprisingly in a low spot and runs off into the pond. Because it is all dirt and mud, it appears that some dirt makes it's way into the pond each time is rains. I can notice some small mud buildup at the entry point of the pond. I plan on spreading grass seed all around the pond which should help grab ahold of dirt, but would it be a good idea to line this Chanel of runoff with rocks? I plan on doing this over by the spillway and don't plan on doing this around the entire pond, but I would like to hear what others have done and any recommendations the forum has. I really appreciate the help and all the other topics this forum provides to help me learn as I go.
On my renovated pond, I lined all the runoff channels with rocks backed by straw to hold back silt. It seems to help a lot. Also seeded mine with annual rye right after completion and before the first rain. Much of that grass ended up under water, as did some of the rocks and straw that were farther down in the basin.
JohnF, Thanks for sharing. Do you happen to have any pictures you wouldn't mind sharing? Also, what time of year did you plant the rye grass? Thank you.
I believe I have added a couple of pictures to help explain my question. I have a newly renovated pond that is surrounded by dirt everywhere and mud when it rains just because it is a renovated pond. I am very excited about it and want to make sure I do all I can on the front end to enjoy this pond for a long time. We plan on building a house on this property. My question........the main water run off is not surprisingly in a low spot and runs off into the pond. Because it is all dirt and mud, it appears that some dirt makes it's way into the pond each time is rains. I can notice some small mud buildup at the entry point of the pond. I plan on spreading grass seed all around the pond which should help grab ahold of dirt, but would it be a good idea to line this Chanel of runoff with rocks? I plan on doing this over by the spillway and don't plan on doing this around the entire pond, but I would like to hear what others have done and any recommendations the forum has. I really appreciate the help and all the other topics this forum provides to help me learn as I go.
FWIW I used rip rap in the areas prone to heavy erosion. In the photo below you can see I even ran the rip rap a ways up into the major waterways feeding the pond. I also seeded and used about a 1000 feet of erosion mat in the lesser waterways. Not saying this is the right way to do it, cause I'm not a pro, but it has worked fantastically. No more chocolate milk water after a heavy rain!
Edit: The pic shows low pool. Recent heavy rains have now put all the shoreline rip rap under water but the grasses I have planted are now holding the water as well.
That much rip rap would have almost doubled the cost of renovating my pond.
I have no pics of the rock and straw dams close enough to see them well enough. I built small rock and brick dams about four inches high at intermediate intervals in the potential gullies and tucked straw under and against them. There was a large amount of scrap brick and concrete block left around the place when we bought it. I also placed some of my fish structure rock and brick piles so they would catch silt as the pond filled and keep it out of the deeper basin. I sowed annual rye around the dam and basin in mid August and again in mid September. I also placed some loose hay and straw around the steeper parts of the banks on top of the seeds. Sowed 50 pounds of winter wheat around the upper part of the site two weeks ago after disposal of the brush and stumps and am now getting some germination of that. I want ground cover as heavy as I can get by spring. If you can get some old carpet, it makes good erosion control around a pond basin until you get vegetation going. Just leave it in the basin and let the waters and silt cover it.
Last edited by John F; 12/14/1505:56 PM. Reason: clarify
Anyway, I would probably get some wheat on it and hope that it germinates at this time of year. Follow up with bermuda in the Spring. And, I've used rocks on areas that erode.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
That much rip rap would have almost doubled the cost of renovating the pond.
I have no pics of the rock and straw dams close enough to see them well enough. I built small rock and brick dams about four inches high at intermediate intervals in the potential gullies and tucked straw under and against them. There was a large amount of scrap brick and concrete block left around the place when we bought it. I also placed some of my fish structure rock and brick piles so they would catch silt as the pond filled and keep it out of the deeper basin. I sowed annual rye around the dam and basin in mid August and again in mid September. I also placed some loose hay and straw around the steeper parts of the banks on top of the seeds. Sowed 50 pounds of winter wheat around the upper part of the site two weeks ago after disposal of the brush and stumps and am now getting some germination of that. I want ground cover as heavy as I can get by spring. If you can get some old carpet, it makes good erosion control around a pond basin until you get vegetation going. Just leave it in the basin and let the waters and silt cover it.
Yep, the rip rap definitely added some cost. IIRC We used something like 160 yards at $16 or $17/yd delivered and spread. I am ok with it as the waterways where we put it are subject to a huge amount of water during any significant rainfall. Used it on the shoreline in high erosion areas and for habitat.
I planted a rye/fescue/bluegrass mix early October (good for Illinois, probably not good for Texas). The fescue germinates even faster than the rye. The original plan was to cover with straw for moisture retention but Ma Nature decided that would be a great time to give us several days of wind 20 to 40 mph so no straw (I figure it would mostly either blow away or into the pond).
I am still nervous as to whether it will seep. It was a 2.2" soaking rain over a 27 hour period, so hard to tell runoff from seepage until it dries up some.
New ponds will all wick into surrounding soils for some time. Give it time and measure your weekly water loss - hopefully you have little and it begins to slow over the next few months.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Thank y'all for the input. I went out today and lined the steep side where most of the water runoff comes from with burlap covered with rocks. How about a silt fence? Should I line the pond with this until this spring/summer when I can get vegetation grown up? Anyone used silt fence around new pond to prevent erosion and dirt in runoff. Thoughts or Pictures?
Anything that prevents dirt from washing into the pond would be good. Silt fence should imo have some hay or straw behind it to filter out some of the sediment.
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