N RANCHING
atural Resources
Pond Fencing Can Improve Water Quality By Mike Porter, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
P
OND FENCING HELPS REDUCE EROSION AND improve water quality where live- stock create bare banks and trails
along a pond. A pond fence should protect all of a dam,
the initial portion of a spillway, a portion of the incoming waterway(s), and most if not all of the shoreline. The fence can be constructed of many
different materials, but high-tensile electric fencing is probably the least expensive and least obtrusive option. A pond fence should be placed far enough from a pond (at least 12 feet) to allow enough room for a vehicle to drive around a pond inside the pond fence. This allows room to work on a pond, room to fi sh a pond, accumulation of plant mate- rial to help fi lter pollutants, and space for additional plant and animal diversity amidst a grazed pasture. Where livestock water is a function of a
Rock & gravel base
Electric fence wire Insulated
connecting wire
Brace post
Guide post (can be T-post with plastic pipe sleeve over it or metal post)
2" polyethylene pipe (must be sealed air tight, so it will not accumulate condensation)
Insulator
Rope with slack
pond, 1 or 2 livestock water access points can be constructed as part of a pond fence. The illustration with this article shows a type of livestock water access point in a fenced pond. Water level fl uctuates in most ponds, so a fl oating
fence is often the most practical way to contain livestock at a watering point. Floating fences have been used at our pasture demonstration farm since 1990 when R.L. Dalrymple, Robert Carpenter and Doug Grounds installed the fi rst ones. The fl oating portion of the fence should be con-
structed of nonrustable material such as PVC or poly- ethylene pipe. The fl oating portion of the fence should be completely sealed and airtight. The fl oating fence should be 20 to 50 feet wide in most situations. Twenty feet of width works fi ne for small herds of
cattle. Forty feet is used successfully with larger herds up to 200 cattle and probably more. Fifty feet is used successfully by a rancher with about 600 cattle in a herd. Ideally, the pond bottom at an access location should
32 The Cattleman May 2013
Large rock under gravel (extend about 15 feet into water
depending on slope)
have a slope of about 30 percent from full level down to at least 5 feet of water. A site can be excavated to obtain adequate slope and depth when a pond does not have a good site. A fl oating fence should extend over a pond far enough
to always contain water, even during a drought. In a typical southern Oklahoma pond, a fl oating fence should enclose some water with a depth of at least 5 feet. Less depth is adequate in a pond where water level does not fl uctuate while more depth is required in a pond that seeps or has a small watershed. A layer of 6- to 12-inch rock should be laid on the
pond bottom and covered with gravel to provide a fi rm base and better water quality in the livestock access area. A short diversion terrace near the entrance of a water access is sometimes necessary to prevent gully formation when the approach is steeply sloped.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
Approximately 30% bank slope
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