Pond Digging in Lapeer County, MI

Check the water rules first

A pond is water, and in Michigan that brings in EGLE. Its inland lakes and streams program covers dredging and filling, placing structures on bottomlands, interfering with the natural flow of water and connecting a ditch or canal to a lake or stream. Its wetlands program covers regulated wetlands under Part 303. A low wet spot that looks like a natural place for a pond may be exactly the kind of ground those rules cover, so ask EGLE before digging. EGLE offers pre-application meetings for this.

Earth changes near a lake or stream can also need a soil erosion permit. In Lapeer County the enforcing agency for that program is the Lapeer County Health Department, according to EGLE's agency list. Your township may have its own rules as well. The pond digging guide walks through each office.

County drains and lake levels

The Lapeer County Drain Commissioner says the county has roughly 260 county and inter-county drains, five dams and one weir, and the office operates established lake levels and flood control structures. It publishes drain maps by township. If your pond would outlet to a ditch, check the township drain map and call the office. A property owner who needs to cross the right of way of a county drain applies for an Act 40 drain right-of-way permit, and the county asks for an approved EGLE permit with it.

Headwaters country

Lapeer County sits at the top of two river systems. The Flint River forms near Columbiaville, where its North and South branches meet, and runs through the city of Lapeer. The Belle River rises in the south of Dryden Township, and its North Branch flows from Long Lake in Attica Township. Lake Minnewanna, the lake at the center of the Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area in Hadley Township, is man-made. Water on a Lapeer County property usually ends up in one of these systems, which is why the outlet matters as much as the hole.

Before the machine goes in

MISS DIG 811 is contacted so public underground utilities are located, and digging does not start before the start time on the ticket. The route in is planned so the lawn and the drive are still there when the machine leaves. If the pond area is overgrown, the brush comes off first. See brush hogging and mulching in Lapeer County. The main residential excavating page has more of this kind of work.