Aquatic Alternatives - Our Services, Lakes and Ponds

Aquatic Alternatives designs and builds lakes and ponds as well as offering consulting on existing lakes. Our goal with every project is to build or enhance existing lakes and ponds so that they will provide the necessary components for a wild-like sustainable population of fish.

Factors That We Consider

Water Rights
Water rights are of primary importance when building a lake or pond. Aquatic Alternatives helps define what and how this can be done. Although we are not lawyers we can work with you to facilitate acquisition of water or suggest alternatives. Because water right issues are extremely important, getting it done right at the beginning will save unbelievable amounts of frustration, time and money.

Safety
Safety issues are also a concern and are addressed at the outset of any project. Generally, Aquatic

Alternatives prefers to excavate ponds and lakes and avoid building dams. Obviously, this is not always the most economical approach to lake building. When a dam is required we rely on several reputable engineering firms to design safe jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional structures.

Safety concerns also include how the lake will be used and by whom? If public access is allowed or small children are apt to use the site some things can be done at the outset of the design process to minimize the risks of drowning. It must be noted that no amount of planning can reduce the risk to zero and intense supervision is always a requirement in high access areas.

Aesthetics
Aesthetics are extremely important to us. We want you to look at a lake or pond when it’s finished and feel as if it is the result of Mother Nature’s shaping of the environment.

The lake should blend in with the surrounding area, reflecting sky and landscapes, so that you are inclined to sit and simply enjoy the view or take a quiet moment to listen to the world around you.

Functional Fisheries
The lakes and ponds that we design and build are functional fisheries. They provide for the successful development of all age classes of trout so that sustainable fisheries result.

Passive Energy Resources
To drive the processes described above we use passive energy sources as much as possible. Solar, wind, and hydrostatic head pressure are all considered as sources to aid in the functionality of the lake and its

fisheries.

1) The orientation of the lake can influence temperature increases just as
predominant wind directions can influence the way nutrients are distributed
in the lake.
2) Terrestrial food sources for trout are also influenced by wind and the
vegetation types that surround the perimeter of the lake.
3) Hydrostatic head pressure from open water and aquifers can often be
directed to serve particular tasks such as improving the performance of
spanning beds or mitigating seasonal temperature extremes.
4) Management schemes for lakes often involve mechanical or chemical treatments that take time, energy
and money. By using passive energy sources and designing the lake at the outset to minimize
maintenance issues many of these costs can be deferred until the lake has reach a state of
advanced maturity.
5) It is important to understand that all lakes (after many, many years) are destined to become eutrophic
and eventually become bogs and marshes and at some point mechanical and/or chemical management
tools will greatly extend the life of a lake or pond.

Interaction with Rivers and Streams
In many instances lakes and ponds can interact with rivers and streams with very positive results. Results can range from providing seasonal migration opportunities for adult fish spawning or foraging fish to over-wintering areas or holding habitats during drought or extreme runoff periods. Designing lakes and ponds to take advantage of these opportunities will benefit trout populations in both lakes and streams.

We will help you understand how your project can enhance a drainage-specific strain of trout to improve
the processes of evolution, natural selection and genetic diversity for the future.