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Ecowrappin'
Some information on ponds
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
I get a lot of phone calls from people wanting to know about some sort of wetland project on their property. Usually it is about a pond, or a complex of ponds, but there are other ways to create or enhance wetlands. This month I will talk about ponds.We have throughout most areas in Lambton, Kent and Essex the benefit of heavy clay soils. That means that in most areas, if we dig a hole it will fill with water when it rains and you have a pond. The water you lose to evaporation during those hot, dry summers is made up for by the rainfall during the rest of the year.
When people call they generally are looking for two things. One is advice. "How should I construct this pond to make the most of my wildlife investment?" While a hole in the ground may hold water it must be dug in certain ways to ensure that wildlife can use it. I like to see irregular shorelines, and very gentle bottom slopes. Both of these points are extremely important to create feeding areas and 'refuge' to escape predators. Predators love straight lines where they can see everything at a glance. Gently sloping bottoms are a safety feature. In case people or wildlife fall in, they can climb back out easily. It also promotes a variety of aquatic plants to grow.
The ideal is to have your pond about 50% open water and 50% emergent plant life. The open water is created by having deeper water in those areas. Unless you are planning to include fish in your pond there is very little reason to go deeper than six to eight feet. With fish you might want to dig it twelve to fourteen feet deep. Ducks Unlimited does not encourage the use of ponds for fish but feels it is the landowner's choice and cost to do so.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate the point about these ponds is to use examples. Along Highway 401 at most overpasses you can see ponds that were dug to use the earth for the bridge approaches. In most cases these were dug over 30 years ago. They were sheer walls with virtually no shallow areas. They hold water but have little to no vegetation. The wildlife value of these old borrow pits is extremely low.
By way of comparison when Lambton County rebuilt the bridges on the Kimball road at Wilkesport in 1996, The material for the bridge approaches was excavated with the plan to create a wildlife friendly pond. It is worth the drive just to see the difference. In the first year it was dug, cattails had pioneered into the pond on their own. It is truly a area well used by wildlife. I saw about 75 redheads on there one day this spring. I always see something interesting there. It is right beside the Nicholls Memorial Forest.
The other thing people inquire about is financing. "Is there any grant money available to help dig my pond?" The quick answer to that is "probably yes". It will not cover the full cost but will help with between one third to one half the cost, provided all the guidelines of how to dig are followed. A signed agreement with DUC and all necessary permits must be in hand before construction can start. After it is completed and inspected by myself or another DUC staff member a grant cheque will be issued. There is a dual purpose for the grant. The first is to assist and reward people who share the DUC vision of creating wetlands. The second and more important purpose is to focus attention on how to dig these ponds so that the wildlife get the maximum use of them.
Darrell Randell works for Ducks Unlimited Canada as a Conservation Programs Specialist in South West Ontario. Before that he was a Lambton County Pork Producer for 25 years. He served 2 terms on Sombra Township Council, 1994-2000, and is currently a councillor in St Clair Township. He is a past president of the Lambton County Federation of Agriculture. He was a founding member of the Rural Lambton Stewardship Network and served as chairman of that group from 1995-2003. He and Nancy have 3 grown children, each of whom they are extremely proud.
