Carefully Plan Dirt Work In Your Pond’s Watershed

Before building a road or making improvements that involve significant dirt work, carefully review the impact of such activity on your pond’s watershed.  Hastily planned projects may redirect runoff or worse, prompt a visit from a government agent.

In East Texas, the average pond needs10 acres of watershed per surface acre.  The further west you travel, those requirements may reach 20 or more acres.

Friends enjoyed a highly productive 50-acre lake for many years until the county raised a roadbed along the north property boundary.  A short time later, owners innocently altered drainage in the south watershed to eliminate a wet area and improve travel across the ranch.

Prior to this work, the once grand lake experienced normal summer evaporation, but rebounded promptly.  Fishing was fantastic.  Today it covers approximately 20 acres.  Consult a professional lake manager or dirt contractor about plans.  Environmental agencies are strictly enforcing regulations governing waterways.