MAINTAINING YOUR POND

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It's important not to make the inside slopes too flat, because they will foster weeds and algae. One solution for swimming areas is to carve out a beach and fill it with sand. The sand will serve as a mulch against weeds.

Ponds constructed on steep slopes may require shoring up in some areas. Where slopes are steeper than 2:1, stones are often used to build retaining walls to keep the basin from slumping. Besides adhering to these slope angles, careful pond builders often let fill material drain before building an embankement. By letting the water drain out of the material excavated for embankement construction, the fill is easier to work with and will not settle as much after construction. Also, pond builders often allow the finished basin to sit for several weeks before filling it with water. Warm sunlight on a newly constructed pond has the effect of baking the structure and sealing it, much like pottery in a ceramic oven.

THE POND IN SPRING

The main objective in the spring is to be a good midwife at the rebirth of the pond after its long, dark winter. The pond wants to take in big gulps of fresh, richly aerated water, and flush out last year's crud. You should help, but beware: the pond must be simultaneously shielded against two threats that arrive with spring waters — erosion and silt.

The erosive, silting power of spring flood water is formidable. A stream that doubles its speed also quadruples its load-carrying capacity. The more silt it carries, the greater its ability to erode — a vicious hydrologic cycle.

Moreover, at the same time that thawing snow and falling rain are adding to spring floodwaters, the shoreland heaves as frost works its way off the ground. Spillways, ditches, and berms are undermined. Piping cracks and trash racks clog. In a few weeks of spring, the pond is likely to suffer more damage than all the rest of the year.

As usual, good siting and construction make the best defense against reservoir wear and tear. In spring, the wise pondkeeper will congratulate himself for steering clear of the big stream inflows; even a small intermittent vein can deliver an avalanche of silt.

Throughout spring, water channels leading into and out of the pond should be cleaned and reinforced. Debris in the vein feeding the pond will decay, eating up oxygen and tipping up water temperatures; debris in the spillway will back up overflowing water, causing erosion around the spillway-approach channel and shore, not to mention increasing the chance for flooding. Spring is also the time to check for ice damage to piping.

Mind the watershed above the pond, especially cultivated farmland or terrain doused with manure, chemicals, or garbage. Open upstream land will feed detritus into ponds. Diversion ditches and berms around the upstream hemisphere of the pond help detour silt, but don't dig them in spring! Refrain, too, early in the year, from logging, roadwork, or construction in the near upstream watershed.

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