Isn a stormwater pond supposed to have standing water in it?
Not always. In fact, many stormwater ponds are designed to go dry within a certain period, typically two to six days. These “dry” ponds often look like shallow bowls in the land. The ponds store stormwater and gradually allow it to filter into the ground. That’s why dry ponds are usually located in areas that have porous or sandy soil. “Wet” ponds are often lined with plastic or clay to prevent water from infiltrating into the ground, and they have water in them most of the time. When the water in a wet pond reaches a certain level, it typically flows through a pipe, much like the overflow drain in a sink. The pipe sends the water either to a dry pond to soak into the ground, or into the nearest lake, river, stream, or other “surface” water body. Dry ponds and wet ponds differ in their treatment of polluted stormwater. Dry ponds are not designed to treat water, but rather, to get rid of it. By contrast, wet ponds treat polluted stormwater by allowing sediment to settle out before the w
