"NyQuillama" wrote in message
I bought a house two years ago with an backyard earth pond that looked
like it needed some work. I believe it was dugout in the 1950's as a
sauna pond for the prior Finnish inhabitants. It has a small creek as
an inlet and a culvert as an outlet. It is about 40 feet across and
is pretty much tear dropped in shape. The depth is 15 feet and I
believe it is spring fed because the water stays very cold even in the
warmest of northern Wisconsin's summer days.

Before you do anything else, please contact the DNR (Department of Natural
Resources) nearest you. Wisconsin has various definitions as to whether
waterways are public or private. Just because it might be surrounded by
private land doesn't necessarily mean the pond is private. The DNR is real
fussy about what you do with 'their' water, including the shrubs, brush and
trees surrounding a waterway. Even as small as it is, you need to find out
if you can do anything to it.
I work in zoning and have seen the DNR get involved with some unusual
things. A guy dug a basement and struck water, the hole filled up and
became 'navigable'. He was not allowed to fill it back in and had to let it
remain in it's 'natural' state. He now has a $100,000 30 ft. by 50 ft. pond
and no land to build on.
Sue
Northern Wisconsin
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