my dilemma

[TripleR]

Gradually defining where you want the water to flow towards the pond with a box blade (and quickly re-seeding to prevent erosion) sounds like a good plan.

Can not tell by the picture, but where does the pond water overflow to when the pond becomes full? It sorta looks like the far side of the pond (opposite your property's drain flow swail) is the overflow for the pond for when it becomes full. Regardless, I would want to know where the pond overflow is and where the excess pond water has to go before I altered things.

Also, I have had good luck using a cheapy 3-pt subsoiler attachment to break up subsoil clay to get the water to simply soak into the ground quicker in those areas where it is not feasable to divert water away. Be mindful of existing drainage tiles, sewer lines, fiber optic lines, power lines etc. before attempting to subsoil anywhere. The subsoilers are great in that minimal damage is done to the existing turf - simply looks like a big knife slit in the ground, but they drastically help the water soak into the ground. Subsoiling can last in an area for multiple years too. It has been several years since I last subsoiled some of my problem areas, but I do plan to do hit them again this year though.

Very good idea for many applications.

How to use a subsoiler

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Build yourself a little catfish pond with some perf pipe buried along the path that water is flowing. We used sediment fabric over the perf pipe we buried at a friends place. He put the pipe just under the surface on pea gravel so that he could channel the water away from his crawl space. Then plant some Marshy water loving plants around your pond to attract birds and butterflies. If the water source is going to dry up in the summer then don't put any fish in it.

 

[jenkinsph]

Gradually defining where you want the water to flow towards the pond with a box blade (and quickly re-seeding to prevent erosion) sounds like a good plan.

Can not tell by the picture, but where does the pond water overflow to when the pond becomes full? It sorta looks like the far side of the pond (opposite your property's drain flow swail) is the overflow for the pond for when it becomes full. Regardless, I would want to know where the pond overflow is and where the excess pond water has to go before I altered things.

Also, I have had good luck using a cheapy 3-pt subsoiler attachment to break up subsoil clay to get the water to simply soak into the ground quicker in those areas where it is not feasable to divert water away. Be mindful of existing drainage tiles, sewer lines, fiber optic lines, power lines etc. before attempting to subsoil anywhere. The subsoilers are great in that minimal damage is done to the existing turf - simply looks like a big knife slit in the ground, but they drastically help the water soak into the ground. Subsoiling can last in an area for multiple years too. It has been several years since I last subsoiled some of my problem areas, but I do plan to do hit them again this year though.

In addition to subsoiling the problem area it can help with the areas that are feeding this low spot. Might slow down the surface run off considerably.

 

[nspec]

Drainage tile will take care of that no problem. Just avoid the sewer pipe. Capacity is not a problem. All that water in the picture didn't come all at once. The tile will carry it off as it comes, and in no way be overwhelmed. I've seen a lot worse than that be cured with tile runs. May need a couple to do it, but you'll be done.

 

[Grandad4]

Drainage tile will take care of that no problem. Just avoid the sewer pipe. Capacity is not a problem. All that water in the picture didn't come all at once. The tile will carry it off as it comes, and in no way be overwhelmed. I've seen a lot worse than that be cured with tile runs. May need a couple to do it, but you'll be done.

If it was just standing or very slow moving water like the pictures show, I'd agree that drain tile would handle it. But Mike also says, "It has come down to the point that I would've been scared to cross this area it was running so fast" in his original post (italics added). If that's true, what he's got is a fast-running stream that's at least 10 feet wide and maybe a foot deep running through his place every time there's a heavy rain, and I'm thinking that amounts to thousands of gallons per minute flowing there. That's really not a drain tile kind of problem, do you think?

The reason I suggested seeking some expert advice is it looks like there should be a stream bed where the water has flowed over time. Since there isn't, it has either been covered over or the natural water flow has been diverted somehow upstream and now follows a new channel on to Mike's land. It may even be a floodplain area. Knowing something about why the water is flooding the field will help find the best way to handle it.

 

[MikeA57]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I'll try to address the questions posed.
I will say that I was fairly impressed with how quickly the water seemed to disappear from the area this time. I did not go back out and wander around out there but at least it didn't stand there like it had in prior years. Maybe all the damage my son did to it with 4 wheeling made it soak in quicker. DIY subsoiling??

Rankrank1: You are correct sir! The overflow is at the other end of the pond out of the picture I included.

Grandad4: When it came down that hard was the same storm system that flooded Nashville last year. I think they called that a "once in 500 year" rain event. So hopefully, I won't see it run like that again. And, I found a site that archives aerial images and I found aerials of that area dating back to 1937!! (Fortunately I made screenshots of them because when I went back out a couple of weeks later they had been pulled.) So I was able to see the area as it existed in '37, '59, '68, '76, '81 and later. The area where the water flows now across the back lot actually was a creek (The pond of course did not exist). So the water is doing exactly what it has done for eons.

Don87: Yeah, the tree line is a series of evenly spaced oak trees right on the neighbors property line. His house is elevated above that back lot so when it rains real bad it does drain through those trees and curves into the main run. One of the reasons that the orange area exists is because the guy that owns the pond put up a silt fence to stop the dirt from draining into his pond and filling it up. He did that once my son started riding back there on ATVs and tore up the grass. I think if I get it draining right and maybe put some rock in there that may solve the silt problem but I'm not sure.

I like the idea of achieving the desired results with a boxblade or land plane. I'm not looking to do a complete dig out of the area. I thought at first that drain tiles would be required but the more I studied it, I realized that it would be more labor intensive than I was wanting to do if I could get away without doing that.

 

[MikeA57]

That subsoiler is a COOL TOOL!! I've never seen one of those before. Ted makes some very informative videos. That might help all throughout that area because it stays real wet down there for a good while. 2 years ago we had so much rain over a month period that it was another month before I could get out there to cut it with my zero turn. And I darn near burned it up cutting it. That's why I bought the tractor.

 

[tjferns]

It looks like the soil is a clay which will not let the water absorb in the ground very fast. So maybe you could dig a trench for the run off and fill with rock to breakup the ground so i'll aborb quicker. Also call your farmers co-op and ask them on how to resolve the problem. Just a thought.

 

[Grandad4]

All the best with your grading project, Mike. I'd think you want to make the swale, or channel, wide and shallow so you don't have as much soil to move and you keep the flow of drainage fairly slow to avoid erosion. Speaking of which, as already mentioned, you will have something of a scheduling challenge getting the dirt work done and something growing before a gully-washer hits (aptly named, eh?) and spoils all your hard work. You may want to tackle it in phases so you are sure to get them completed. Do you maybe have a particular season when you usually get an extended dry spell in your area?

The subsoiler and the tile may indeed be helpful additional measures once you get the basic work done.

If you are so inclined, sharing pictures of your progress is something appreciated by most TBN members.