The spillway

Every pond needs a good drain pipe and a spillway.

Heavy rain the night of Jan. 2 and morning of Jan. 3 filled road ditches, streams and ponds in Southeast Missouri. The upper middle of this photo just to the left of the big tree is where water is overflowing this one-acre pond. This area is called the spillway, and it is approximately 3 feet lower in elevation than the levee that extends to the right.

Opportunities do not come often to photograph a properly built pond when it is full with water barely flowing out over the spillway. An overflow pipe of correct size will quickly drain down the excess water in the pond when the rainfall slows.

The watershed area of this one-acre pond is approximately 25 acres of forest.

Without a spillway flood water is more apt to wash out the levee at its weakest point and severely damage the pond.