{"id":4802,"date":"2015-08-13T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.sdps-bbs.com\/?p=4802"},"modified":"2025-07-30T16:41:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T20:41:59","slug":"excess-rain-and-pond-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/excess-rain-and-pond-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Excess Rain and Pond Integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pond\"

Photo credit: Dan Annarino<\/p><\/div>\n

\u200bHopefully no one is reading this after a catastrophic loss of their pond. This very wet summer has tested\u00a0some ponds’ ability to hold and safely release excess water.\u00a0I would like to quickly review the overflow\u00a0structures ponds should have and also some management necessary to ensure the safety of ponds\u00a0levees\/dams.<\/p>\n

For recreational ponds, there should be one or perhaps two means of releasing water from the pond. Most of these ponds are built on sloping land in order to capture rainwater to fill the pond. In this case, it is necessary to have an emergency spillway that will divert excess water once the pond is full away\u00a0from the dam to prevent erosion and save the integrity of the structure. Usually they is\u00a0just an\u00a0earthen channel that runs around the end of the dam with an initial elevation 1-2 feet below the top of\u00a0the dam. Water only runs through the spillway when the pond is full. An emergency spillway should\u00a0have vegetation to prevent erosion but not to the extent that water is blocked from passing through\u00a0efficiently.<\/p>\n

A distinct advantage can be gained by having a drain structure installed through the dam when ponds\u00a0are initially constructed.\u00a0Drains such as this typically have a valve or swivel pipe which can regulate\u00a0water level to whatever height the owner would like. With a wet summer such as we have had, the\u00a0pond water level could be proactively lowered to save massive amounts of water passing through the\u00a0spillway.<\/p>\n

Additionally you can remove stagnant low oxygen water from the bottom of the pond. If a\u00a0drain structure is releasing water from the bottom of the pond, it is a good idea to flush this valve two to three\u00a0times per year to remove debris from around the structure which may plug it up if used infrequently. With these structures, it is a good idea to use the 6\/12 rule.\u00a0Water levels are kept six inches below\u00a0maximum in order to catch any rain water event without overflowing. Evaporation and seepage will\u00a0reduce the level back down over time.\u00a0The 12 refers to the level the inches below maximum where you\u00a0would add well water if you have the capacity.\u00a0Generally this is only used with aquaculture ponds.<\/p>\n

Control structures to maintain water levels will ensure the integrity of your ponds dams and levees.\u00a0By\u00a0controlling the amount of water flushing through a pond, the owner can also manage the productivity of\u00a0the pond ecosystem by\u00a0releasing\/maintaining nutrients in the pond.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/b>
\nCommercial Greenhouse and Nursery Production: Controlling Algae in Irrigation Ponds\u200b<\/a>,\u00a0The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
\nIndiana Ponds<\/a>,\u00a0The Education Store
\nIndiana Ponds Q&A<\/a>,\u00a0The Education Store
\nManagement of Ponds, Wetlands, and Other Water Reservoirs to Minimize Mosquitoes<\/a>,\u00a0The Education Store
\nIndiana Pond Management\u200b<\/a>,\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), Fish & Pond Management
\nPonds – Planning, Design, Construction<\/a>,\u00a0USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)<\/p>\n

Bob Rode<\/a>, Extension Aquaculture Specialist
\nDepartment of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u200bHopefully no one is reading this after a catastrophic loss of their pond. This very wet summer has tested\u00a0some ponds’ ability to hold and safely release excess water.\u00a0I would like to quickly review the overflow\u00a0structures ponds should have and also some management necessary to ensure the safety of ponds\u00a0levees\/dams. For recreational ponds, there should be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,51],"tags":[57,69],"class_list":["post-4802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquaculturefish","category-ponds","tag-aquaculturefish","tag-ponds","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4802"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33853,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4802\/revisions\/33853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}