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View or Download the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources
Pond
Management Handbook. (This is a very informational booklet about all ponds)
| Ponds are constructed for many reasons. They
can be used for: livestock watering, irrigation, fire protection, and fish
production. Many ponds are built for recreation, wildlife habitat,
and for enhancement of the landscape. Although a pond may have
multiple uses, some are incompatible, such as irrigation and recreation.
It's important to think through these considerations early in the planning
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Two Types of Ponds
A pond is either an embankment or an
excavated type, depending on the surrounding land forms. If your
site is rather flat, then a simple excavation is needed. If the area
is very sloping, you can construct an embankment (dam) across a slope or
small watercourse. Embankments across streams and rivers are not
recommended due to spillway sizes and overly large watersheds.
Embankment type ponds are a little more complicated, because an outlet
pipe and spillway is needed to safely handle the overflow from large
storms. Depending on the dam's dimensions, a
permit
may be required from The Ohio Department of Natural Resources,
Division of Water.
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Drainage Area
The pond site needs to be located such
that there is an area of land above it that directs water runoff into the
pond, keeping at the designed capacity. This area that drains into
the pond is called the watershed. The ratio of watershed to pond
area should be between six and thirty acres of drainage per one acre of
pond. It's important to consider the land uses of the watershed,
because it will affect the water quality of the pond. Some factors
to consider might include any of the following: industrial runoff,
agricultural pesticides or sedimentation, or failing septic systems.
The best land uses for a watershed draining into your pond is forested or
non-agricultural grassland.
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Soils
Soils in the watershed have a major
influence on how much water reaches your pond, because they determine how
much soaks into the ground (infiltration), and how much of what types of
plants grow in the watershed. Concerning the actual site of
construction, the soil needs to contain at least 20% clay by weight, at a
depth below excavation of three feet, to prevent excess seepage. If
porous soils containing sand and gravel underlie a large part of the site,
a clay "liner" will need to be brought in and compacted to
prevent excess seepage.
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Auglaize SWCD no longer provides pond
design services.
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