Lessons From the Flood
What happens to ponds built too close to rivers? Photo by Mike Winslow.
Ponds can be an aesthetic addition to a property, but they also pose a danger during times of flooding. Ponds built within floodplains become magnets for rising waters. Streams can “capture” the pond which then exacerbates downstream damage when the pond blows out. In the latest installment from LCC’s Lessons from the Floods we show how ponds within floodplains were captured by nearby rivers in Shrewsbury, Waitsfield, and Mt. Holly Vermont during flooding, and explain why this happens. Great care is needed when planning, approving or constructing ponds or other depressions like gravel pits within a river corridor.
