Legal Issues with having a pond?

[ultrarunner]

My brothers place has the perfect spot for a pond... no danger of runoff damage, etc.

When I mentioned it to him he said it's a great idea but no way would he do it.

Explanation was having water on your property is just another invite for regulators to extend even more control over land use.

Has anyone had any problems creating a pond or given it much thought?

 

[scaredychicken]

garden pond, probably not a big deal

though no experience with digging out an irrigation / fishing pond, I would treat it like a swimming pool - fenced with signage, private property

I know that the creek at the base of our acreage is subject to riparian regulations / fisheries / fish habitat (can't clean up after the beaver knocks down a tree that happens to land in the water ...) . we continue to maintain water usage rights as it will be additional value in the future. no issues thus far.

we live in the country, but the enviro agencies still have a perspective.

 

[hosspuller]

Watch out for the Feds ... State approval doesn't mean anything.

EPA targets couple's private pond in Wyoming, threatens huge fines | Fox News

 

[ultrarunner]

^^^ This is exactly his thinking... why invite trouble?

 

[redman135]

Is there some law regaurding the freehold title that would let you counter charge them with theft or abrogation of title?

 

[brin]

The EPA just enacted regulations giving all water rights to the govt. ..even a mud puddle....their reasoning is that they have the right to regulate and control any water that eventually enters the navigable waterways...They make the case all water eventually ends up in streams, creeks , rivers and the Oceans...Do some Googling for the exact wording of the regulations.

I think your brother is a smart man....We have a pond ...it's spring fed and been here for 50 yrs...I wish we did not have it....because of the Feds but also trespassers, neighbors etc.

 

[dave1949]

Of course all areas/states are different but in areas where water isn't fought over, properly developing ponds and wetlands is usually supported and encouraged. There are correct ways to do it and there are wrong ways. The Feds or the EPA would be the least of my worries in this area. The key here is to stay away from running water and existing wetland habitats when locating a pond.

If a person is willing to follow some sensible rules, they can avoid a lot of problems. It's always the folks who think they know better, or have a constitutional right to be ignorant, that get themselves into trouble in these cases.

 

[EddieWalker]

Back when I lived in CA, a friend of mine had a pond dug on his land on the Pleasanton Ridge. He was retired from the Oakland as a City Planner and ran for the Director of Park Services every election. He loved politics and messing with the Park. He always won until they finally took his land under Eminent Domain to expand the size of the park after forcing all the other land owners to sell at a huge discount because they didn't want to go through all the court battles that my friend enjoyed.

When he dug his pond, they came after him and he told them that the pond had always been there, but it had silted in and became over grown over the years. We took out 50 year old trees, so it must have been a very long time ago that there was a pond there. Since the Park couldn't prove that the pond hadn't been there that long ago, he won the court case and they paid him for his legal fees.

If the Park wants to mess with you, they will find anything to do so. They will ignore their own laws and send out junior rangers to do their bidding with blind obedience. They will accuse you of damaging critical wetland in dry areas, or endangered species that don't even exist on your land. Then you have to go to court and defend yourself.

Here in Texas, if you dig a hole, you can have a pond. If the creek does not have a name, you can dam it up without any permits. If it has a name, then you have to go to the authority in charge of that particular creek for a permit. Any pond over 90 acres requires a permit and the bigger the pond, the harder it is to get a permit.

Texas is also very land owner friendly and if you are not charging for the use of your land, the landowner is pretty much safe from lawsuit if anything happens on his land.

Eddie

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I know a farmer here in the area that filled in an old pond on the home place after a new neighbor complained about the pond not being fenced in. The new neighbor lived in a new subdivision of three to five acre ranchettes and his kids loved fishing in the pond a quarter mile away from the subdivision. But he was worried about kids getting in trouble and someone getting hurt. So the farmer filled it in and made it all part of the big wheat field. New neighbor was upset, his kids had enjoyed trespassing and fishing in the pond.

 

[Soundguy]

besides all the 'wetland' and water resource rules. it would likely be an 'attractive nuisance' when looke dat for liability purposes.. kind alike a swimming pool. might have to fence it in.. etc..