Skip to main content

Whose Pond is it Anyway?

A quick reference guide on maintaining your community's storm water pond and where to get more information.

Pond with landscaping.
Pond with landscaping. DNR Photo.
  • What is a storm water pond? Storm water ponds are one of several best management practices developers may choose to use for water quality and storm water capacity control, as mandated by state and local ordinances. Storm water ponds are typically part of the overall development plan and must be maintained in perpetuity.

  • Maintaining your storm water pond
    • Start by gathering information.
    • Determine who is responsible for maintaining the pond. This may be spelled out in a maintenance agreement between the owner and local municipality, however, this may not be the case with all ponds.
    • Obtain a copy of the engineering plans and any "as-built" surveys that exist. The local municipality or design engineer should be able to provide you this.
    • Inspect the pond: This may require hiring someone with experience in certifying storm water ponds and assessing things like erosion, woody growth, burrows, soft spots, leakage, sediment accumulation, permanent pool depth, vegetation, etc.

  • Maintenance