For Pennsylvania pond and lakefront owners. Every fact carries the date we checked it.
Pond & Shore PAlakepennsylvania.us
Menu
Check my project
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 our community or association · change
  2. Where will the pond or dam be? Away from streams, and not in a wetland or floodway · change
  3. Will the water be deeper than 15 feet and hold more than 50 acre-feet? Not sure · change
  4. Will you pipe or pump water from a stream to fill it? Yes · 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.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Introduction to Ponds and Chapter 105 This may be outdated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 Aug 12, 2026), FAQ #5 This may be outdated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.

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.

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 Code § 105.13(c)(2) This may be outdated

State

Water withdrawal registration

DEP; river basin commissions

If your total withdrawal from a stream or other source in a watershed averages more than 10,000 gallons per day in any 30-day period, DEP's Chapter 110 rules require you to register the withdrawal and report use every year. Depending on the amount and purpose, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission or the Delaware River Basin Commission may also need to approve it, and a withdrawal may never dry up or degrade the water source.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Water Withdrawal Registration & Reporting (25 Pa. Code Chapter 110) This may be outdated

Also check

Owner

Your association comes first

Your lake community or association

Your association's rules and approvals come first; they don't replace state permits. Ask for its approval in writing before you apply to the state.

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.

Get this plan as a PDF, $9

Your cards plus a timeline counted back from your start date, a document checklist for each permit, a call list with links, questions to ask contractors and a tracker. Delivered instantly.

This is not a permit or an application. We don't file anything for you. Agency fees are paid only to the agency.

Have a credit code?

Pond & Shore PA plan · lakepennsylvania.us/plan/31152 · Checked Oct 4, 2026

Get PDF ($9)