turning swamp into pond

[Gypsy]

Yesterday I went for a walk with our son and noticied that where we had some land cleared last year there is a good 2-3 acre place on our property where the watter is collecting quite deap. It's mostly open but extends into a tree line of cyprus. We hadn't noticed it because it's hidden fairly well but it's quite close to our house (200 yards or so) It's a mess - full with cut tree stumps and fallen brances and pond scum. My wife looks at it and thinks yucky swampy mess, but I look at it and think our own priviate fishing pond. I didn't venture out to see how deap, but it's above the dog's head (lab), at least 4 - 5 feet deap I'd wager.

Does anyone have experience converting swampy areas into ponds? if the level holds can I just buy some stock fish and watter plants and dump them in? I know I must sound awfully uninformed but this really only became and option yeasterday. A couple of grand for riggin and EPA wetland lawer application nonsence is without doubt not an option, but in southern SC I'm wondering if this isnt deap enough allready.

[Common Tator]

We didn't do ours, someone else did before we bought and because they did, we have a lovely stocked pond on our ranch.

There was a marshy area of the ranch where they couldn't grow anything because ot=f the springs there. They had an engineer look at it and design a dam, which we are told is overkill for the half acre size of the pond. They used the dirt they removed from the bottom to create the dam.

This view is looking across the pond at the dam side (which has a road on it).

[Wis Bang]

My cabin is located by two lakes...Bear Swamp & Ivan Swamp acording to old Topo maps. There are a bunch of ex-swamp lakes in the Poconos. Don't know if they would let you do that now.

[Gypsy]

Originally Posted by Wis Bang

My cabin is located by two lakes...Bear Swamp & Ivan Swamp acording to old Topo maps. There are a bunch of ex-swamp lakes in the Poconos. Don't know if they would let you do that now.

That's funny - we moved to SC from the Poconos (Henryville, near Stroudsburg)

[RonM]

I would be very cautious about doing anything before checking with local DNR, We have a great Cypress cSwamp in Delawareit is the northernmost of such and if anyone attempted to change anything they would be in front of a Judge.... I would check first before renovating......

[Maura]

County Extension would know. If you make the area MORE habitable to wildlife, I'm sure it's doable. After all, you don't want to create a fishing pond, you want to extend wetlands habitat. If that doesn't fly, dig a pond near the swamp. The swamp will probably get swampy every spring, but drain into the pond. There are probably already fish in the water, the eggs can come in on duck feet, as can a host of other creatures.

[65284]

You may well have unwittingly created a huge headache for yourself. If the EPA gets wind of the existence of this "wetland" be prepared for a huge hassle. No matter that it was the accidental byproduct of land clearing, they will claim jurisdiction over it.

Get ready to deal with applications & fees, permits & fees, studies & fees, attorney fees, fencing costs, possibly be forced to sacrifice land to establish buffer zones, no end to the nonsense and misery they can and will gleefully inflict on you.

Probably the best thing to do for your peace of mind and bank account would be to get the dozer back out and drain this thing, uh I mean finish the job, ASAP before Big Brother discovers it.

The very last thing I would do is let any governmental body know about it.

[uncle Will in In.]

Get a pole and some worms. Wade out to where its up to your knees and toss the line with the worm in the water. If it's a year around pond it most likely has bullhead cats in it already. Brim or bluegills can live in pretty swampy places. If you go fishing elswhere and toss a half dozen fish in your pond they will likely stock it for you. If they don't, you don't have the makings of a fish pond. <>UNK

[Jennifer L.]

Check with your soil and water office. Bet anything there is federal money available to help you do that. Lots of times they want ponds on land.

Jennifer

[Ken Scharabok]

The real question is whether or not it will hold water throughout the year. If so, probably just leave it like it is (although you can stock it with fish). If not, then you basically have a wet-year bog and need to learn to live with it (including possible the mosquitoes which will come from there).

[Wis Bang]

Originally Posted by Gypsy

That's funny - we moved to SC from the Poconos (Henryville, near Stroudsburg)

Then you would know Ivan Swamp as Otter Lake Campgrounds & Bear Swamp as Monroe Lake. Our cabin is on State Forest land near Monroe Lake. I come in through Analomik when I come up Rt 33 & use woodale church road...

I remember them dredging the stumps out to make Otter Lake...

[ronbre]

i wouldn't contact the epa..you won't ever get them off of your back..when we lost our house to a housefire and had a new one put in, they dug fill out of our wettish field and it is now a wetlands full of wildlife..and cattails..my son deepend one area last year with a back hoe rental..but couldn't get much done as we were time limited..but it is shaped like a figure 8 and hard to see all of it from photos..we have put in winterberry, elderberry, barberry, willow, evergreens, lots of water lilies and michigan lotus, arum, and the cattails came on on their own.


we will be working on improving this "pond" as we are able..it has a clay bottom, which goes about 4 to 8' deep (the clay) and the deepest area is only about 8' deep where we were digging with the backhoe last year..most of it is very shallow..which the wildlife loves..we also use NOSQUITO in it from Gardens alive to keep the mosquito larvae down as we do not yet have fish in it.

[geo in mi]

Take a look at this: http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/wa...s/401guide.pdf
You might have a chance at it.

[Claudia in NY]

i think i would agree with the folks here who said Not to contact the authorities. it would be like opening Pandora's box to local & state officials...once they are on your land and know what you have: they claim it. I would get sound advice from this board and local neighbors as well and proceed mindfully and very quietly.

[ronbre]

we have neighbors that are preparing to enlarge their 40 year old spring fed pond, and they were going to contact DNR before doing so..everyone warned them not to do so..as they would be in big doo doo..so they evidently haven't..i agree that it is scarey to get the government in your back yard..you'll never get them out

[fishhead]

If the pond is 4-5' deep all year then you probably don't have to do anything except add fish. You may want to take down a few nearby trees to let the sun in if it is too shaded but probably not.

[KMA1]

Gypsy,
A pond may or may not work, and there are a lot of different definitions of ponds. Depends on a lot of things. How big is the wetland area it is adjacent to? Is the water surface runoff or ground water table. Is there an adjacent water body ( lake, creek, river, spring) What is the drainage area. How would you keep the water seperate from adjacent water? If the area flooods from a water body, stocking is usless. It will already have fish. Cypress usually indicates saturated soil or standing water most of the year. What is the soil type. In general, most hydric (wetland) soils do not make good ponds, especially in the coastal plain. I am going to break with the others and suggest you talk with your nearest NRCS or SC Ag Extension Office. They can help you answer the above questions before you spend money on something doomed to failure. As for permitting requirements, most areas are now checked for unpermitted dredge and fill actions via satelite photography. Look a google earth. So, just going ahead without talking to the Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Functions Office (Not EPA) is only likely to get you in more problems. However, if you do need a permit, you can fill out the application yourself, and it think it only costs $25 or so.