ponds vs. da gub'mint

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

My understanding is that one of the biggest hurdles in digging a new pond is getting the okay from the government.

Which branch of the government? What issues are they worried about?

What happens if you just do it and don't get their okay?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), May 02, 2001

Answers

Paul:

The people you need to talk to is your local Soil Conservation Agency - or whatever their current name is. May be Soil Conservation and Stabilization Agency. I suspect you will find them very supportive of pond building and may even have some offsetting funds available. The local office has twice recently contacted me about possible projects on my farm. I just didn't want to fool with the paperwork and approval process so just paid for my projects on my own.

By the way, when I had my pond dug out, I didn't need any permits. Since I thought the site might be classified as a wetlands, I went to to the local SCA and asked what areas on my farm were classifed as a wetlands. When they said only one at the other end of the farm, I said "Thank you" and left.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 02, 2001.


The agency depends on where you live... Here in Idaho, some folks go to the Soil Conservation Dept, some to FS, some to BLM and there are still others.

Its a pain to know which to go to, so I called the County Extension and they told me... It wasn't so much a pond, but a temporary damming of a creek in my case...

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 02, 2001.


We just put in a nice pond, about a quarter of an acre two weeks ago. Did not tell anybody, and do not intend to.

I think that the government is keeping some sort (or several) of a data base about stored water. This just might be so that they know where to go to confiscate fresh water when the cities run completely out. Who knows...?

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.come), May 02, 2001.


One of the most valuable things about "living on the land" is that you can more or less make use of your resources whatever way seems good to you within reason, including storing your water.

Here in (some parts of) Australia the greenie-weenies have managed to make it law that you can no longer do this without approval that's hard to get, and then only for a VERY small percentage of what falls on your land, because you'll be affecting the rights of people who might have got the water downstream from you (even though there was never a permanent stream, and they wouldn't be allowed to store the water either). This might be behind some similar restrictions for you, and even if it's not, watch out for it, or they'll do it to you too.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 02, 2001.


Some years ago I had the soil conservation people to come out and survay for a farm pond. This helps in case the dam fails and sends a wall of water down stream. This shows you built the dam correctly and limits your lilability. Some goverment agencys are usfull and some arent.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), May 02, 2001.


I've heard of a law that limits the height of a pond dam. If built higher than the maximum height, a permit must be obtained from the Corps of Engineers. Just offering this so you can check on it if you are so inclined. I am no authority on this subject.

-- Paul (hoyt@egyptian.net), May 09, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ