THREE PRONGED ATTACK SOLVES #6 DRAINAGE PROBLEMS

To solve any problem you first have to determine the causes. The causes, for the wet area left of the willow on #6 and to the left of the silver tee box on #9 were a corroded, leaking Water Level Control Device for #17 ponds, plugged 1930 era cement drain tile and a low area where the predominant soil is clay.

Last fall we replaced the corroded Water Level Control Device and a good stretch of pipe that carries that water to #5 pond, now the challenge was to locate the 1930 cement drain tile, no blueprints existed just a reference from our Westmoor History Book that in 1930 drain tile was installed. With Mark Mejchar at the controls of the Mini-Backhoe we located the tile and it gust water to the surface, we pumped the water out and inserted a tracer wire into the tile so we could locate it and dig it up again about 30 yards down grade, once again water gust to the surface and we continued down grade where we found, as you can see in the middle picture above, a mass of willow roots in a 4" cement tile. We cleaned the roots out and continued our tracing all the way to the pond. With the tile now functioning we placed vertical, clean out basins, over the drain tile about every 30 yards. With these clean outs in place locating the tile and cleaning it out is simple. Unfortunately, the 1930 drain tile is 4' deep and the lower 3' is in clay soil, so this drainage network, although functioning, would be slow due the water having to go through the clay to get to the tile. So to speed drainage in this area we added shallower trenches with solid, willow root proof, pipe and surface drain inlets as you can see in the last photo above.
Now we have a drainage network that will keep this area dry and playable all season long and will be easy to maintain in future. Playable and sustainable, a good combination.