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Originally Posted by Robert_in_NY
I am surprised they let that dam grow up so badly.
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It is very complicated here. The dams were put in place in place by the government in the 1950s as part of flood control measures. Every state, local and federal agency you can imagine has had its fingers in it and now none of them will claim it. It has fallen to the local county Soil and Water Conservation boards to manage. Not only are they relatively powerless but in this county they are also broke. The laws regulating these watershed systems are extremely vague. Since something had to be done, they are now taxing people who live in the specific watershed areas to pay for upkeep. The additional tax per landowner this year is supposed to be trivial. I worry that it could get out of hand though and I'm pretty sure on a strict legal basis they don't actually have the authority for such a tax. But its a poor county that no one cares about and is apparently run by people who are not the sharpest tools in the shed, if you get my drift. So fighting it on principle would be senseless and probably futile.
But so far the tax is small and they did a great job so I guess I won't complain.
The bigger problems on this particular pond is that the water level control valve rusted away years ago. There is no provision on the riser to control water level, it has its overflow level and that's it. When my B-I-L needs water for his cows during drought times like now, we have to use 3 and 4" pipe to siphon water into the riser. It is a real PITA. The pond is also silting in rather badly. I have no idea if, when or how this can be taken care of.
In any case, the dam is clear now and looks great. I really just wish I could have seen that tractor driving side slope on it.