Small pond(90'ish across) in front of my house(in town) serves no purpose for me except looks.
It catches a tremendous amount of storm water runoff from the whole neighborhood. The volume sometimes overwhelms the pond very quickly.
For many years if was fine but maybe new construction upstream increased the volume as well as filled in the pond....
Evidently it was originally designed to just overflow over the lowest backside of the tank dam and run a short distance over grass and into a big ditch that continues through the neighborhood.
Recently the water is doing its thing and getting worse each storm. I assume it will continue to widen the damage and eventually break the dam.
Im trying to see if the City will come out and take any responsibility.

Would a landscaper be who could come fix the issue with the "spillway"?
Do I need a heavy equipment guy to deal with it and maybe dig out the pond as well?
Pics to follow in just one minute, so hold on. Thanks in advance for any advice.

During the hard rain.


After the rain.


Coming into pond from street.

Is it on your property or just in your subdivision? If you have an HOA it may be their responsibility.

It is my property.

It is a damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you do anything it will probably affect someone elses property, then you have that problem to deal with.

We have a concrete spillway across the end of mine.

Is it any type of recorded drainage easement? If its not I doubt the city will want anything to do with it.

I’ve fixed a bunch of those over the years, are you looking for the cheapest fix or the best?

A landscaper isn’t the one to fix that IMO, your going to need a mini excavator and a skid steer. I don’t know of any landscapers with the knowledge of how to fix that but I’m sure theirs one out thr. If it was my money I’d want someone familiar with moving water or you will be back right where you are after a few storms. Your getting a ton of run off and your very close to it blowing the whole thing out as you know, the sooner you fix it the cheaters it’s going to be.

I’d be contacting the city about the run off myself, im sure they will take the it’s not my problem approach but if you damned up the upper end of it you can bet they’d be concerned.

Distance from the pond dam to the big ditch? Would an 18" or 24" culvert be big enough to catch the overflow? A buried culvert with a grate on both ends to keep trash and critters out of the culvert. Then cover it over with fill dirt.

Ol Thumber I agree with everything you said. I talked to one landscaper and I think his proposed fix would last about as long as you suggested.
I have contacted the City and they were supposed to come out but Im having to recall. They werent optimistic.
I dont have to have the best and Im afraid of the cheapest. You may be too far away but I would love you to look at it or at least give me specific advice so I know how to talk to the right people.

It will still need a spillway, the first time your grate clogs up its game over again, the lack of a proper spillway is the number 1 cause of dam failures to begin with as his pictures prove. I would bypass the pipe all together and build a proper spillway to the ditch and be done with it.

Personally I think you are SOL. Your best bet is to get it filled in and let the water spread out.

This - landscaper would not have a clue - go to www.pondboss.com and go onto their forum - there are tons of experts on there when it comes to ponds - post your pics, etc. on there and ask the same questions there- it is the best pond resource by far IMO -there are folks on there who can answer your questions who are pros

I am just curious, how deep is the pond?

I sent you a pm, were to backed up to fix it but I’ll gladly steer you in the right direction on how to fix the problem.


With that run off I can all but guarantee you it’s silted in BAD and not deep. I’d be shocked if it were 5-6’ in the middle.

Cost???? Ballpark.....

To the rest... Theres not an easement that Im aware of but not certain. Bill, a concrete spillway would probably do it but Im hoping theres a cheaper way. Its worked fine without one for at least a dozen years. Dog, a culvert theoretically would work if the flow over the dam wasnt so fast and volumous and wide. Think about pouring a pitcher of water into a straw. Most would not go through the straw. Same thing with some type of homemade/cheap spillway cause you need some type of wide mouth/funnel to channel it into the pipe. tlk, thanks I will look up that pondboss. It couldnt be deep at all, never checked.
Got interrupted typing this so I may be behind some posts.

Just my opinion, if it's 2-3 feet deep who cares even if it "breaks" the runoff would not be a worry, unless of course you are wanting the pond feature for yourself. Did you dig the pond or was it there when you moved in? Sediment has probably raised the depth as well.

Also, the city has diverted the water to your specific property and they might be accountable, unless of course you built the concrete drain into your pond.

Again, I know nothing just throwing it out there.


Add: it is nice..love to have something like that.

Some good thoughts, Super. The pond is very nice and im sure would be appreciated by any future buyers if/when that happened, so I want it to stay. The house was probably built when it was outside the city limits and no other houses were around. Long before me I assume the concrete drainage was put in by the City and probably the pond was built at same time, either by landowner or some cooperative effort. Then came the neighborhood and it wasnt designed for this but it has lasted at least 12 or more years(likely many more) without any problems or maintenance. The storm water is always dirty so the sediment has filled in badly Im sure.

You are fixing to loose the spillway and the pond.

I had a very similar issue. Drained 3 feet of water out of my pond and them installed a 24in culvert through my damn. Water passes straight through and into a ditch on the backside of my damn now. I'm guessing you'll need a mini-excavator and maybe an 18-24 in pipe to cure your problem. It's really not too expensive of a DIY fix.

Shoot an air view picture. A thought, fill the area in behind the dam to the level of the dam, so the water won't be flowing into a ditch, just rising over that area.

I have a culvert as well as the concrete spillway. Both bases covered. Belt and suspenders.

Is that a turtle by the blue flag?

The turtle is headed for higher ground.

Superduty=noticer.