Surface Water Drainage - creating a pond

[AmandaEM]

I was wondering if planning permission, or permission from SEPA might be required to create a pond to improve my surface water drainage in my field.

Some parts of the land gets really boggy and I have had ll the drainage cleared, all is now working well. The soil is peaty and collects water on the surface and I thought a pond would help to gather the surface water in to one area then have an overflow back in to the one of the drainage pipes that leads in to the drainage ditch bordering the field.

I'd appreciate some advice (I'm in Scotland).
Thanks

 

[nick...]

I’d just do it.if you start seeking permissions it could end up being an expensive pain in the arse
Nick...

 

[brigadoon]

Thats a bit of a minefield, both legally and practically.

As regards permission - yes you need to talk to SEPA according to the letter of the law as I understand it.

From a practical point of view unless your field has a reasonable slope and the pond is in the lower part of the field all you are going to do is maintain the water table, probably at a higher level than you really want

What you could perhaps usefully do (and SEPA would like it) is that you drain the field to a pond in the lowest corner and install an inverted syphon so that your pond acts as a sediment trap.

You say the soil is peaty and collects surface water - there would not happen to be a layer of clay under a shallow peat cap by any chance?

 

[Radio]

Do it forgiveness is easier to get than permission

 

[AmandaEM]

There is a layer of clay under the peat soil. We found it when we uncovered the grains to unblock them.

The pond would go at the lowest point of the field...its a decent slope. The drains work well, but I hoped making this low point lower would encourage surface water to move down the field. All I want to do is create a large soak away.

 

[deleted user 837354]

There was a wet spot there already and it had been there for years. Also your neighbour old Fred remembers fishing in a dew pond right there back in 1929 but he is dead now so you dug and cleaned it out anyway....

 

[Chasingmytail]

If its not undermining an area (ie not adjacent to a canal), affecting the course of water to a neighbour or diverting water from a say reservoir then dont worry about it. We have put in lots of ponds. Long as its not a lake then its not an issue. The 3 small ponds have worked great and we can drawer off them but the huge one at the top is leaking even after layers of clay.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Creating a lake would be a different matter. If all you are doing is reinstating a dew pond that was already there then what cause for complaint is there?

Cattle had been walking through it and pock marked it and it dried up most years so no way there was any newts.

 

[Dry Rot]

Some years ago my neighbour wanted to dig some duck ponds (for habitat improvement, of course!). We looked at all sorts of liners, then found the contractor who had dug many ponds for the RSPB. He told us, he had never used a liner, just dug the pond so it was below the water table and it would fill naturally. He was right.

Back then, we got grants for drainage. I got my pond dug when my ditches were cleaned out. Then sent in the invoice to collect the grant, deducting what I'd paid for the pond. The invoice, and cheque, came back with a note saying all was eligible for grant. Didn't bother with planning. I think you are OK provided no one complains. It's a reservoir for farming, isn't it? Poke around and there will probably be a grant in there somewhere!

 

[Y Fan Wen]

/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45227432

 

[puppet]

We did exactly this in Scotland with grants that were available for environmental schemes after F&M. No permission needed. We had a silage field with wet patches and an old wet area lower in next door field with around 8 feet of peaty soil. Drains from silage field connected to it and now have a 40x20m pond with an overflow back into the original pipes then a stream.
There may be grants available for splash ponds at present but maybe not worth it.

 

[brigadoon]

There is a layer of clay under the peat soil. We found it when we uncovered the grains to unblock them.

The pond would go at the lowest point of the field...its a decent slope. The drains work well, but I hoped making this low point lower would encourage surface water to move down the field. All I want to do is create a large soak away.

We have that scenario as well - what happens with us is that the water gets down through the peat and onto the (impermeable) clay where it pools

We put close spaced drains in one area but they were only partially successful so we went back and ripped the clay between drains using a digger rock tooth to encourage the water into the drains a subsoiler or mole plough would be a better weapon on a decent area

If you are able to excavate a pond in the lowest point of the filed it should assist but I would recommend setting it up as a silt trap as already mentioned - very easy to do.

 

[brigadoon]

We did exactly this in Scotland with grants that were available for environmental schemes after F&M. No permission needed. We had a silage field with wet patches and an old wet area lower in next door field with around 8 feet of peaty soil. Drains from silage field connected to it and now have a 40x20m pond with an overflow back into the original pipes then a stream.
There may be grants available for splash ponds at present but maybe not worth it.

We did something very similar around the same time resulting in a similar sized pond with a much larger area of associated wetland

But that was 18 years ago

current advice regarding wildlife ponds :-

Advice and consents
It will be necessary to consult, and gain consent for your ponds from a number of bodies.

Planning permission

Pond creation, and pond restoration (rather than maintenance), do not have 'Permitted Development Rights' in Scottish Planning Policy, so may be subject to planning permission. It is an item requirement for you to 'obtain planning permission, or have confirmation that planning permission is not required for your proposed pond' to claim the funding. Contact your local planning authority in good time before starting operations to confirm their requirements for your ponds.

Waterbodies

Scottish Environment Protection Agency approval is required for pond creation or restoration that

• is connected to a river, stream, ditch, wetland, estuary or loch, or
• is constructed within a watercourse, or
• involves excavating springs and other groundwater-fed wetlands, or
• damages any protected species or habitats

Designated sites

We strongly advise you to contact Scottish Natural Heritage if the work is within, or likely to affect, a designated site such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Protection Areas (SPA) or Special Areas of Conservation (SAC).

Protected species

Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency should be consulted and licences may be required for work that may harm protected species, including great crested newt, natterjack toad, water vole, otter and badger.

Archaeological and historical features

Historic Environment Scotland should be consulted for pond creation within, or likely to affect, Scheduled Designed Landscapes or a Scheduled Monument.

Utilities and services

Once you have identified the areas in which you intend to work, check for overhead and underground pipes and cables, and contact the relevant provider

 

[Dry Rot]

I forgot to mention that before making your pond, it is a good idea to dig a test pit and see if it fills with water naturally.

As for Brigadoon's post, it seems you probably need a set of tables showing when it's full moon and cloudless as well!

 

[Kevtherev]

Permission is only needed over a certain size depending on your local authority guidelines.
Sounds ideal if there’s clay

 

[AmandaEM]

Thanks for everyone's input.

The land in the area I want to create the soakaway is so wet all the time. It's the main point of run off (lowest point, and sloping to the main drains) for about 10 acres of my land so I have no doubt a surface soakaway will fill quickly. I can see what come out of the drains from that area and it's a lot of water! Over the winter the field drains didn't cope and parts of this boggy area flooded.

Brigadoon; its not a wildlife pond. If it doubles up as that then great for the wildlife, but its primary purpose is a large soakaway. The area I plan to put the soakaway is always boggy and wet even with the drainage cleared and running well. But my drainage maintenance hasn't dried out a couple of substantial areas that get boggy. So I wanted to support the underground drainage with surface drainage.

I have hunted high and low for guidance on ponds but came up with nothing in the planning department. Everything I found was for building regs and nothing for agricultural land. Brigadoon, could you provide the link for the notes you provided?

It has always been grazing land and there are areas that should never have had animals on it due to the bogs. I fenced those off. The previous farmer told me, "I nearly lost cows in there". I could tell...when we dug down to the drains in that area we found crushed parts all over the place (about 4.5 feet deep).

If a surface soakaway works in this part I might end up with a few surface soakaways to deal with the other boggy areas. I'll look up silt traps as well.

 

[AmandaEM]

Permission is only needed over a certain size depending on your local authority guidelines.
Sounds ideal if there’s clay

What are the size limits? We were thinking of about 10x15m

 

[Kevtherev]

What are the size limits? We were thinking of about 10x15m

You will have to ask your local planning authority but I wouldn’t bother it will open a can of worms if they stick their beak in.
You are restoring an existing pond [emoji41]

 

[AmandaEM]

You will have to ask your local planning authority but I wouldn’t bother it will open a can of worms if they stick their beak in.
You are restoring an existing pond [emoji41]

I had some "helpful" neighbors report me to planning for building field shelters for horses. They aren't fixed to the ground and are essential as there is no natural shelter for the horses. But they fall in to a grey area for planning permission. End result; the planning department are now self funded so will insist on planning permission applications for anything in a grey area. They have to make money and I was told by a retired planner that this is how they make their money...from the small grey area projects. Sigh.

No doubt the local binoculars will be out on this project also!

 

[Dry Rot]

I had some "helpful" neighbors report me to planning for building field shelters for horses. They aren't fixed to the ground and are essential as there is no natural shelter for the horses. But they fall in to a grey area for planning permission. End result; the planning department are now self funded so will insist on planning permission applications for anything in a grey area. They have to make money and I was told by a retired planner that this is how they make their money...from the small grey area projects. Sigh.

No doubt the local binoculars will be out on this project also!

Your field shelter is for "the sheep", so agricultural, I would have thought. Same as mine! You do have a sheep, don't you?