Free · No sign-up
Pennsylvania pond and lakefront permit navigator
Answer a few questions and get a plan of the permits and notices that apply, who issues each one, what to have ready, and how far ahead to start. Every card shows the date we last checked it.
- Pick your project.
- Answer a few questions, starting with who owns the water.
- Get your plan: print it, save the link, or get it as a PDF.
What are you planning?
- Dock, pier, lift or boathouse
- Shoreline wall, riprap or bank repair
- Sand beach or fill at the water's edge
- Dredge or remove muck
- Herbicide, algaecide or pond dye
- Stock triploid grass carp
- Stock bass, bluegill or other fish
- Lower or drain the water
- Build a pond or raise a dam
- Pipe or pump stream water to a pond
- Brush piles, cribs and fish habitat
Not sure your project is listed? Start with who owns the water: it decides whose approval comes first. Then call your county conservation district or the DEP regional office for your county.
All eleven permit guides
- Do I need a permit to build a dock in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit for a shoreline wall or riprap in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to add a sand beach to my pond or lake in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to dredge my pond in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to use algaecide or herbicide in my pond in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to stock grass carp in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to stock fish in my pond in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to lower or drain my pond in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to build a pond in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to pump water from a stream into my pond in Pennsylvania?
- Do I need a permit to sink brush piles or fish cribs in Pennsylvania?