Pond spoils

[bat man]

In MN when you dig a pond the spoils have to be placed a certain distance from the new hole.

Anybody have experience using these potentially organic rich digs on sand or other marginal areas one would like to plot?

 

[Jim Timber]

You're talking about expanding an existing wetland, or digging a new pond?

New pond has no such restriction, and should be gps'd and noted on the property records by the county wetlands guy prior to construction for proof it's not subject to the WCA. If you don't have proof you made it, you have all the BS of the WCA if you want to fill it back in, move the boundaries, build within 35' of it, etc.

If you're expanding an existing wetland, the spoils just can't go back into it. The law is stupid here, because you can't make a pond larger and add an island with the spoils once they've been removed. Even if you're making the wetland area bigger than it started.

I wanted to move the edge of my swamp so I could grade it to be better duck nesting. No-Go.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Wetland work is tough everywhere. Water resources ANYWHERE are subject to big-time scrutiny - as well they should be. Many in the science community say clean water is the next
" gold rush ". Universities around the world have done loads of research on the function of wetlands in the water cycle. They all conclude that wetlands and swamps are nature's
" filters " and remove pollutants much quicker ( and for free !! ) than man-made filtration systems. In order to have good, clean ground water and streams - we need wetlands. That's why the fussiness over wetland treatment / work. It's that way everywhere. I know of some of the effects of equipment working in any wetland from Penn State reports I read - but it gets real wordy. Don't want to bore !!

 

[sandbur]

In MN when you dig a pond the spoils have to be placed a certain distance from the new hole.

Anybody have experience using these potentially organic rich digs on sand or other marginal areas one would like to plot?

Perhaps you don't remember the location, but you walked on part of a spill/foodplot when you and Mark stopped at my place. It works.
I have also seeded red clover on a spill, but eventually RC took that spot over.

 

[sandbur]

To Bowsnbucks point, IME a wetland is "valued" almost solely on it's ability to filter water. Wildlife is NOT a factor. All wetland laws aside....All spoils from a dug out pond are not created equal. In my area, you could pull silca sand, maro clay, peat and usually a combination of all three. That peat has been a fantastic food plot builder for me. Mix it with the silca sand and a little lime, and you got a great loam soil within 2 years.

does maro clay equal marl?