# Run off from farmers field killing my fish



## bethbrooks12 (May 16, 2012)

Does anyone out there know of what we can do to keep the run off from the farmer's field from damaging our pond and killing our fish? We have repeatedly ask the farmer to please come up with a solution. He was suppose to get a grant from the Govt (us USA TAXPAYERS) to fix the barrier between his field and our land. We stocked our pond with over $2000.00 worth of bass , cat, gills and amurs. We lost alot of them after a rain that washed his chemicals into our pond. 

What can we do? We have been told that we can not change the flow of water. If we did , it would flood his field.


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

Call Odnr theyll know who to contact.

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## Buckeye Ron (Feb 3, 2005)

bethbrooks12 said:


> Does anyone out there know of what we can do to keep the run off from the farmer's field from damaging our pond and killing our fish? We have repeatedly ask the farmer to please come up with a solution. He was suppose to get a grant from the Govt (us USA TAXPAYERS) to fix the barrier between his field and our land. We stocked our pond with over $2000.00 worth of bass , cat, gills and amurs. We lost alot of them after a rain that washed his chemicals into our pond.
> 
> What can we do? We have been told that we can not change the flow of water. If we did , it would flood his field.


I have a friend who works for the EPA, he said call them


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## forefathers (Feb 15, 2012)

Try this...... absmaterials.com/osorb
heard about it on the radio. They are in Wooster Ohio
As far as I'm concerned it should be used religiously everywhere!
This could even get rid of the lake Erie alge blooms!


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## injun laker45 (Jun 28, 2011)

I'd call the Ohio EPA District Office.
http://www.epa.state.oh.us


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## Taco (Jan 4, 2009)

Really? Fish kills happen for any number of reasons, why are you so sure it's the farmers fault? Why didn't you investigate this possibility before stocking he pond? What are the "chemicals" he applied. Why is your pond his problem to "fix"? Any other ponds in the area effected? 

Frankly, millions of acres of farmland drain into various watersheds throughout the state/nation/world but this farmer is to blame for your fishkill? Excuse me if I'm skeptical of your highly scientific analysis.


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

Taco said:


> Really? Fish kills happen for any number of reasons, why are you so sure it's the farmers fault? Why didn't you investigate this possibility before stocking he pond? What are the "chemicals" he applied. Why is your pond his problem to "fix"? Any other ponds in the area effected?
> 
> Frankly, millions of acres of farmland drain into various watersheds throughout the state/nation/world but this farmer is to blame for your fishkill? Excuse me if I'm skeptical of your highly scientific analysis.


Taco he didnt ask for your critisim. He just asked for some help.


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## Gills63 (Mar 29, 2012)

Without seeing the setup, I'm not sure if this will work or not, But could you build up the edges so the water doesn't run in. I see no reason why your pond needs to be the drainage basin for the surrounding fields. Other than that the only filter I know is wetlands.

How do you investigate the possibility of a fish kill before building a pond. Taste the runoff?

P.S. Agreed Viper.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## Taco (Jan 4, 2009)

My suggestion was to get the water tested and make sure they know what caused the kill instead of blindly looking for solutions to something that may not be the cause. 

I do apologize for any unnecessary commentary, I'm certainly sensitive to the accusation the farmer is causing the problems. If, in fact, the farmer is guilty of over applying to his field then I don't have much to offer. Still, with so little info I strongly suspect that the problem is something else entirely. Get your water tested, contact your county extension, go through your county NRCS and/or FSA office, call a pond service....


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Taco said:


> My suggestion was to get the water tested and make sure they know what caused the kill instead of blindly looking for solutions to something that may not be the cause.
> 
> I do apologize for any unnecessary commentary, I'm certainly sensitive to the accusation the farmer is causing the problems. If, in fact, the farmer is guilty of over applying to his field* then I don't have much to offer.* Still, with so little info I strongly suspect that the problem is something else entirely. Get your water tested, contact your county extension, go through your county NRCS and/or FSA office, call a pond service....


Seems you have offered enough already


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

bethbrooks, first, understand that it is not cost effective for a farmer to apply something only to have it washed downstream and be careful of placing blame until there is evidence, as in water tests, that show effluents from the farmers field are ending up in your pond and killing the fish. It could be pesticide/fungicide/fertilizer but it's far more likely something going on with your pond itself and there are things you can to do help protect your pond.

The OEPA may be able to help some or at least give you some direction. There are also private environmental consulants you can hire if you are against using goverment services/taxpayer money of which you will likely get better results as they are working for you vs. trying to please everyone. Ideally, I would think that a water sample would need to be taken immediately after a significant rain to get reliable results as many chemicals in use break down fairly quickly.

You cannot change the flow of the water without proper planning and permits. If you do, you can open yourself to a slew of legal problems.

When you say "barrier" what is this? Is it a buffer strip of vegetation or a structure? Is the pond fed by field tiles or a swale or ditch? If surface drainage and a ditch/swale: Is it vegetated if so describe size and vegetation? How many acres of watershed do you have feeding your pond (soil and water dept. can answer this)? What size is your pond acre/depth? Do you have an aerator? What are you using to manage weeds in your pond? Are you supplementally feeding the fish? How much aquatic vegetation is there and what types? Were these $2000 of fish stocked all at once? How many Amurs were added? How long have you owned the pond? Was this a one time event or multiple?


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## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

Call the EPA....they can get it fixed fast with fines probably going to the farmer. Depending on if your area is considered a wetland or not.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

i have a close friend that has a pond in the middle of farm country. a few years ago it came a big rain right after this farmer had applied something. and it killed a bunch of his fish. but from what i got from him there was nothing he could do. there is a creek that feeds his pond and it comes across alot of farmland before it gets to his pond. and this was the only time i know of that caused a big fish kill. he said after a few hours the ground soaked up enough of whatever it was that it usely didnt hurt anything. but this time it rained right after he sprayed. hopefully this will just be a one time thing.

i do understand how upset you feel, im not trying to be cold. and either way it wont hurt to see what caused the kill, and see if there is anything you can do.

we do have to have farmers and they have to treat there fields, so i would say you have a long battle ahead of you even if it was caused by something he used. unless he is just using something that is illeagle then its going to be hard to stop him. but i wish you all the luck in the world whatever killed your fish.
sherman


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

I agree with [email protected] & Taco's *second* post. lol

I can't count how many times I have been contacted by a pond owner about things that a farmer or neighbor did to kill the fish in their pond. In most of those cases we found that the problem was caused by natural water quality problem, no aeration, or overstock/ over feeding. Now could those problems have been affected by another person, IDK, but in most cases they were resolved after water testing - a pond visit - then simple directions to improve the problem. I&#8217;m not saying that it can't be caused by farm run off. I just know how often ponds die off and runoff is blamed unfairly.

I don't know if you have taken all the steps to insure this is the cause of your problems but you should. Fish die offs are very common. There are many things you can do to prevent it, but it could still happen even if "You are doing everything right."


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