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Educational summary, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm with the agency before you start. Checked Oct 4, 2026.

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)
  1. Who owns the water and the lakebed? A lake owned by a utility or company · change
  2. Where will the pond or dam be? Not sure · change
  3. Will any of these be true: drainage area over 100 acres, deepest water over 15 feet, or storage over 50 acre-feet? No, none of them · change
State

Small dam across a stream: permit or Environmental Assessment

DEP regional office

Fee: Small dam across a stream: DEP fees from $1,750 plus disturbance fees; confirm with 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. For a non-jurisdictional dam across a stream, DEP's pond page lists a $500 Environmental Assessment review fee, and water obstruction and encroachment permit fees of $1,750 plus $800 for every tenth of an acre of permanent disturbance to waters and $400 for every tenth of an acre of temporary disturbance, before engineering, consulting and mitigation costs. The fee schedule in the regulation (25 Pa. Code § 105.13) controls: confirm the exact fee with DEP.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Introduction to Ponds and Chapter 105 (FAQ: non-jurisdictional dam across a stream) This may be outdated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.

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

Federal

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Clean Water Act Section 404)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, usually through DEP's joint application

Placing fill or dredged material in waters of the United States, including many wetlands, needs federal authorization under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In Pennsylvania the Army Corps and DEP share one joint application: under the Pennsylvania State Programmatic General Permit (PASPGP-7), DEP or a delegated county conservation district can issue both the state and the federal authorization in most cases, and forwards the rest to the Corps. PASPGP-7 runs until June 30, 2031.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Pennsylvania State Programmatic General Permit-7 (PASPGP-7), Part I and Part VI (dated April 27, 2026) This may be outdated

Info

Wetlands nearby? Get them delineated

DEP

If wetlands may exist near a proposed pond or could be affected, DEP says a certified wetland consultant must be hired to identify and delineate the wetlands and watercourses and to prepare the Environmental Assessment. Wetland or stream impacts that cannot be avoided must be replaced (mitigated), which adds cost and time.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Introduction to Ponds and Chapter 105 (Impacts to Water Resources; Mitigation) This may be outdated

Info

Is my stream High Quality or Exceptional Value?

DEP

DEP keeps a statewide list of stream segments with existing-use classifications, including High Quality (HQ) and Exceptional Value (EV) waters. Your conservation district or DEP regional office can confirm a stream's class.

Also check

Owner

Ask the lake's owner first

The utility or company that owns the lake

The owner's shoreline permit is required in addition to state permits. Ask the owner for its shoreline rules and approval before you apply; its approval doesn't replace state permits, and state permits don't replace its approval.

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

Optional. We use it only to show pros who serve your area. It isn't saved with your plan.

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Pond & Shore PA plan · lakepennsylvania.us/plan/30tcg · Checked Oct 4, 2026

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