Keeping Your Pond Dam and Spillway Clear
Channel: Alabama Extension
Date: 2019-10-10

Earthen dams of ponds require routine maintenance to preserve good safe function.  If earthen dams are not routinely mown, trees will almost certainly start to grown on the face and in the emergency spillway.  In general, no trees should be allowed to grow on or around the dam.  In older ponds there may be large trees that have grown up on the face of the dam. For safety reasons these large trees may just be managed and kept healthy.  In this video, Aaron Fewell, a graduate student in the Auburn University School of Fisheries, demonstrates how to determine if a tree should be cut on a dam and discusses the importance of keeping the spillway free of obstruction.