South Carolina Pond Management
Thank you for visiting South Carolina's Pond Management Website,
a diagnostic tool to assist pond owners, managers, and waterfront
residents in choosing the best management options for maintaining ponds
in South Carolina.
This site helps diagnose problems and
provides maintenance recommendations for managing and preventing issues related to pond management in South Carolina. Problem issues can include aquatic weeds, fish kills, shoreline erosion, poor water
quality, nuisance wildlife, and much more. This website works as a
decision tree, asking visitors questions about the pond and the nature
of the problem and providing answers.
To begin, please select the type of pond you have from the list below.
These
ponds are constructed in both residential and commercial settings to
collect and manage stormwater runoff from development. They contain numerous pipes and an outfall control structure
that controls the movement of stormwater coming from streets and parking
areas.
These
ponds are usually associated with more rural settings and typically are
privately owned. They are used primarily for recreational purposes,
namely fishing and boating, but may have other uses. Unlike stormwater
ponds, they do not receive runoff from roads and other impervious surfaces. They are located in upland areas or may have been created by damming a natural stream.
Irrigation
ponds are normally associated with agriculture or commercial
horticulture endeavors and are used to retain water for irrigation of
plant stocks and crops or watering of livestock. They are supplemented with water from wells
or reclamation systems and have pumps and other devices designed to
distribute water to the irrigated areas.
Waterfowl Impoundment
Ponds
designed to attract waterfowl are often very different from other ponds
in that they are typically very broad and shallow and flooded only part
of the year. In the coastal zone, these impoundments may be tidal and controlled using dykes and weirs. Depending on the species of waterfowl desired, they may
contain standing timer or other unique plant types.
Aquaculture/Fish Production
Aquaculture
ponds are designed for mass production of fish or shellfish. Unlike
recreational fish ponds, they are designed with commercial production in
mind. They often are linear in design and geometric in shape to aid in
maintenance and harvesting.
Livestock
lagoons are designed to collect and treat waste produced by confined
animal operations. They are constructed to optimize nutrient management
and treatment of pathogens contained in animal waste. These
ponds may have pumps and distribution systems to aid in distributing treated
waste over agricultural lands as organic fertilizer.
These
small container gardens are usually located at homes and businesses for
the purpose of beautifying the landscape. They range from less than
100 gallons in size to several thousand gallons or larger and may be
designed to serve as simple reflection pools or as a home for ornamental plants and fish.
