Permit plan · Build a pond or raise a dam

Your permit plan: Build a pond or raise a dam

Based on your answers. Cards are in the order you'll usually need them. Checked Oct 4, 2026.

Your answers (change any of them)

Who owns the water and the lakebed? A federal reservoir (Army Corps of Engineers) · change
Where will the pond or dam be? Away from streams, and not in a wetland or floodway · change
Will the water be deeper than 15 feet and hold more than 50 acre-feet? No · change
Will you pipe or pump water from a stream to fill it? Not sure · change

State

Off-stream pond: usually no Chapter 105 approval

DEP

A pond dam below the dam-permit thresholds still needs a water obstruction and encroachment permit, or DEP approval of an Environmental Assessment, if it crosses or affects a stream, affects a wetland, or excavates or floods a stream or wetland. DEP strongly discourages ponds built on streams or in wetlands. A pond built away from streams, and not in a floodway, wetland or other body of water, needs no Chapter 105 approval (unless its dam meets the dam-permit thresholds), but a pipe or channel bringing stream water to it may need a permit such as General Permit 4. Once built, every pond is a regulated water of the Commonwealth.

DEP: Introduction to Ponds and Chapter 105

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Introduction to Ponds and Chapter 105 This may be outdated

State

Erosion and sediment control

Your county conservation district (for DEP)

Any earth disturbance needs erosion and sediment control practices (BMPs). A written erosion and sediment control plan is required once the disturbance reaches 5,000 square feet (or if the work could discharge to a High Quality or Exceptional Value water), and it must be kept on site. Disturbing 1 acre or more generally needs an NPDES permit for construction stormwater. County conservation districts review these plans and may charge a review fee.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Frequently Asked Questions: Erosion and Sediment Control (rev. Aug 12, 2026), FAQ #5 This may be outdated

State

PA One Call (811) before you dig

Pennsylvania One Call System

Timing: Notify between 3 and 10 business days before digging.

If you will dig with powered equipment, Pennsylvania law requires notice to PA One Call (call 811 or file online) at least 3 and no more than 10 business days before digging, and this applies to homeowners on their own land. Work may not start before the third business day after notice; weekends and legal holidays do not count. The service is free for homeowners. A contractor must make its own call: ask for its PA One Call serial number.

PA One Call: Homeowner FAQs

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: PA One Call: Homeowner FAQs; PA Act 287 as amended This may be outdated

Info

Start with your conservation district and NRCS

County conservation district; USDA NRCS

Before building a new pond, contact your county conservation district and the local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office early: Penn State calls NRCS one of the first contacts (soils, siting, feasibility) and the conservation district a must-visit for erosion and earth-moving requirements. PFBC calls the conservation district "the first stop", and DEP suggests calling DEP to learn which authorizations apply.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Pond Agencies and Permits in Pennsylvania (updated May 19, 2025) This may be outdated

State

General Permit 4 (GP-4): intake and outfall structures

DEP or your delegated county conservation district

Form: GP-4, 3150-PM-BWEW0504

Fee: $200

General Permit 4 (GP-4) covers intake and outfall structures in, along, across or projecting into regulated waters. It is not for High Quality or Exceptional Value waters or for wetlands. The registration fee in the regulation is $200.

DEP: Chapter 105 General Permits

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Chapter 105 General Permits; fees from 25 Pa. Code § 105.13(c)(2) This may be outdated

Also check

Local

Also check with your municipality

Your township, borough or city (and county)

Ask about zoning, building and floodplain permits. Your county, township or municipal government may have its own rules, codes or permits for pond construction or maintenance, so check with every level of local government before you start, especially for a new pond.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Pond Agencies and Permits in Pennsylvania: Local Government (updated May 19, 2025) This may be outdated

Owner

Army Corps lake: ask the project office first

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the lake's project office)

Ask the lake's Corps project office first; Corps shoreline rules apply. At lakes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages, private docks and other private shoreline uses are allowed only in areas the lake's Shoreline Management Plan designates, and not at all on lakes where construction began after December 13, 1974 or where no private uses existed by then (older permitted facilities can continue).

36 CFR § 327.30, Shoreline Management (eCFR)

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 36 CFR § 327.30, Shoreline Management on Civil Works Projects This may be outdated

A summary, not legal or engineering advice. The regulation, the permit documents and the product label control. Confirm with the agency before you start.

Pros for this work

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Pond & Shore PA plan · lakepennsylvania.us/plan/3134m · Checked Oct 4, 2026

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