Wet areas in yard

[TOMDUALLY]

If it were me I think that I'd wait until next summer as you said you just moved in in november and the wet fall that you all had up there in the northeast I'm suprised that you only found 3 wet/squishy spots. If I did that test on my land I'd have to drain my front yard and back lot. Give it a little time to soak in and drain it self. After spring thaw you will find a lot more soft spots.

[bugstruck]

I think Eddie summed it up pretty well. Area 3 is no surprise, as that looks like it's in the floodplain and bordererd on one or two sides by stream, even if it's some distance back. Area 2 is somewhat surprising until Eddie mentioned the dam leaking. Either that or the spring? in Area 1 extends through the pond and resurfaces in Area 2 downgrade. If the dam is not leaking that's the only other cause I can think of. Frankly, Areas 1 and 3 look pretty normal to me.

[archerynut]

I am definitely going to wait it out through the spring into the summer to see what those wet areas do. I know for sure that the area above the pond never dries up, my uncle who used to live here told me that they never cut the grass there b/c it is always wet. The other areas that are below the pond I have no history on. MY thoughts right now are to put french drain in the area above the and then see what happens. Going to keep a close eye on what happens with the areas below the pond, could just be form the wet fall and winter that we have had in the northeast.

Next question, the low spot in the dam wall (circled area) needs to be repaired for a number of reasons. Eddie mentioned the erosion and that concerns me but also to make it look good and easy to mow. Any ideas to build that area up?

Had another idea for the area that is wet above the pond. Would it be possible to dig a holding area to collect the ground water, then build a waterfall/rockbed in that area and use a small pump to use that ground water
and water from pond to get water to the waterfall?
Weather is crappy and the thought of projects to do with a soon to be purchased tractor are keeping me occupied.

[dqdave1]

In my opinion; #1 can be resolved by french drains ending in pond. Other two can be resolved by french draining them off your grassy area, one to creek in backround and other off into wooded area. I noticed water level and do not see any overflow pipes. It would be wise to install an overflow to allow water to overflow through a pipe to an area off site ( stream) It seemed to be spilling over at variuos spots, which can contribute to the wet areas. This might involve raising areas around the pond to be level at all spots except where the overflow pipe is at . Overflow pipe should be buried below grade; not just laid on ground at lowest spot of pond. Example; Use transit to make pond walls all same height; then decide the height of water level below pond wall height; then plce overflow pipe below height of pond wall; say 12" down. This also makes for a nice looking pond .

[EddieWalker]

I think your getting ahead of yourself. First step and the only thing you should do right now is fix the overflow drain. Is there an area that will be lower that does not go over the dam? Was there ever a pipe drain in there?

Just building up the low area will just send the water to another area. You need to have a plan on what to do with the water comeing out of the pond.

If you have such a location, then to fix the overflow on the dam, you need to scrape off the grass and any other plant matter. Add good clean clay in layers and slowly build it up. Dump a load of dirt and spread it out. Drive over it and compact it in as much as possible. It's more important to spread it out thin and drive over it a bunch of times than moving allot of dirt ther all at once. The worse thing you coud do is get a dump truck there to dump a load of dirt that you cannot spread out and compact. That would be very bad.

Your french drain is good for surface water that doesnt drain. It might work in your situation, but I personally think it won't. I think your dam is leaking and that you have bigger issues.

How deep is the water in the pond? How tall is the dam and how side is it? What is the slope of the dam inside and out?

One very common way for dams to leak is for it to travel under the dam and then surface on the other side somewhere down hill. This happens behind the dam and will look just like what you have going on. It's a big job to fix this and not something to rush into.

Wait and see what happens. If it dries up during the heat of summer, then it's not leaking. If it's still wet, you got major issues. Right now we just don't know enough to start guessing what needs to be done.

Eddie

[archerynut]

Just realized that you can see the existing overflow pipe in the pond. I am going to take some more pics when I get back from vacation. Definitely going to wait until the summer before doing anything with any one of these areas. The overflow pipe will probably be the first project. New pics will show where the pipe is now.

[dillo99]

Originally Posted by archerynut

As far as I know the pond has been here for 25+ years. I am not sure that the circled area is supposed to be a spillway, I think it has eroded like you said and is a weak spot in the dam. I would like to reinforce this area, but not sure of how to do that yet. The white pipe that you see in the back left of the pond is supposed to be the overflow and does work, it is just when the level of the pond gets to the pipe it is also slightly trickling over the circled area also. If I could repair this low spot in the dam wall, I think it;s possible one of the wet spots would dry up. This is all questionable haven;t been here long enough.

WARNING...I am no expert. Listen to Eddie - he knows the most about this stuff.

but...a suggestion/idea...if the overflow is working but the water level reaches the top of the dam before the overflow kicks in, it would seem to me that your overflow is too high. Shortening the pipes (intake and out-take) would lower the water level which would at least help to prevent further erosion at the circle. Just an idea to employ in addition to adding to/repairing the dam.

[EddieWalker]

Originally Posted by dillo99

Listen to Eddie - he knows the most about this stuff.

Thank you for the vote of conficence, but I'm far from an expert. I'm just offering an opinion based on a guess that came to me from the pictures. It's very possible and even likely that I'm totaly wrong. It happens allot here, but in being wrong and learning about it, I learn something.

Eddie

[archerynut]

Here is the new pond pic that I had promised. The overflow pipe has a white arrrow drawn to it. Hope this gives some more information.

[EddieWalker]

The more I see of your dam, the more I question it's strength. The height above the water in several places looks like it's only a few inches. Two feet would be better.

Could the pipe have been bent up at one time?

I think the first thing I'd do is cut that pipe to lower the water level. The lower the better. You can always add to the pipe later on if you raise the dam height, but right now I'd cut that pipe.

Where is the discharge of the pipe? Does it leak along the way? How is the pipe sleeved? A smooth pipe is a guranteed leak. Water will follow the length of the pipe all the way through the dam.

Eddie