Dry/wet creek bed idea

[Stomper]

I am searching ideas for when I landscape my yard and have come up with an idea for water drainage of the area. We want to building a dry creek bed through the middle of the yard to help channel the snow melt and rain water away from where we don't want it in the yard. My wife has always wanted a small water fall or creek so I have come up with this idea to have a small wet creek that doubles as a drainage system for the yard, but I need some advice as to if it will work or not. The creek bed will be roughly 50 yards long before it leaves the area I want to drain. I will grade the yard towards the creek bed to aid in the draining of my yard. The water will enter the creek bed and flow out of the yard. Just before it leaves my yard, I will build a small pond just big enough to hold just enough water to keep the creek flowing. A pump will take the water in the pond to the top of the creek again to keep it flowing. In freezing conditions the pump will obviously be removed and the pond pumped dry. The bottom end of the pond where it leaves my yard will be slightly lower than the the rest of pond edge wich will allow any additional rain water drained into the creek bed to escape, therefore draining my yard of acess water but still keeping enough to operate the wet creek. When the snow melts it will drain into the creek and fill up the pond, once the pond is full it will overflow out and continue to drain away. The creek bed and pond will have pond liner installed as it would normally be in a wet creek system.
Will this work and what are some of the issues that I should be concerned about.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

How do you plan to deal with algae and bugs?

You don't drain it in the winter you just let it freeze, it is just going to refill naturally even over the winter.

You will also need a source to keep it full, there is a lot of evaporation that happens with that kind of system. Do you have a good well or are you on city water?

How much land do you have?

Is it legal to divert water and or contain water?
In some places you need a permit to build a creak or pond.

Will pond overflow effect any neighbors?

 

[Stomper]

How do you plan to deal with algae and bugs?
Still researching that topic.
EDIT
Checking further into the algae issue it seems that it is quite a problem for these systems and a lot of work to keep clear of it, especially with the length that this will end up being. Might be best to just stick with the dry creek. If it is dry I can just blow the leaves out and wash it with a hose if/when it needs it.

You don't drain it in the winter you just let it freeze, it is just going to refill naturally even over the winter.
It won't refill around this area. Snow... yes, water...not a chance. Once winter hits here, nothing melts till spring. Trust me

You will also need a source to keep it full, there is a lot of evaporation that happens with that kind of system. Do you have a good well or are you on city water?
Yes I'm on town water and the pond is within hose reach

How much land do you have?
1.65 acres

Is it legal to divert water and or contain water?
In some places you need a permit to build a creak or pond.
No such rules like that here. I've already checked

Will pond overflow effect any neighbors?

No. It will continue to flow on my land till it reaches the culvert at the road infront of my property

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Natural methods, like Koi are a good choice, Sand filters and chemicals can get really pricey to maintain.

Yep we do the same thing here, hard freeze about Nov then no real thaw till spring. If you leave it full of water it will help decrease the chances for heave and line breakage, use Heavy wall Poly or better yet PEX, as it will stretch without damage, do not use PVC.

If you pay for water by the gallon you might not like the bill that it creates for you. as with 1.65 acres your not dealing with a lot of land for natural capture, might look at rain barrels for more containment of seasonal rains.

Good that you have no issues, we don't either, but other states it's highly illegal to do it.
We normally have so much water we try and get rid of it as fast as we can, we have been under a river/lake flood warning for about a month straight, thanks to the 385% of snow pack that we got over the winter.

 

[Daren Todd]

NO pictures!!!! If my wife see's any pictures of it, then I'm screwed!!!!

 

[Stomper]

Haha. That’s how I got talked into this. Stupid pictures.

 

[Russell King]

The discharge from the pond should be fairly wide and level along it’s length so you don’t create any erosion that will create problems


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mickeyd]

NO pictures!!!! If my wife see's any pictures of it, then I'm screwed!!!!

Sorry about that.

We have a major creek on my west property line that never dries up and has a nice waterfall on it. The wife made me put a bench out there among the trees that stays fairly cool most of the time as it has timber land on the other side.

Then there is another creek the cuts through the property that runs from the south to the north and flows into the bigger creek at the county road that borders the northwest side of the property. I had to put a bridge over that creek and it has a waterfall just past the bridge. I have seen that creek get down to a trickle during really dry periods but never dry up either. The bridge was to get to the land in between the creeks and as a way for the wife to get to the rest area on the major creek.

Now the wife has decided that she wants me to put in one of those man-made waterfalls close to the house in the backyard because her younger brother has one. So I know exactly what you mean.

 

[coachgrd]

Haha. That’s how I got talked into this. Stupid pictures.

Don't do it, this little project took years off my life! This was all before the arrival of my 1870 with front loader. My back still hurts.

 

[car compulsive]

My dad used to spend summers near Lake Tahoe. He eventually sold his condo there and rented a different place each summer from his real estate investment partner. One year I visited him in a house with a stream and small rapids in the side yard. The first night, the weather was beautful, but he went through the house closing all the windows. When I asked why, he said that sound of the running water kept him up all night going to and from the bathroom.