California has some of the strictest rules anywhere governing the amount of water that people can retain for their own use—and because of this, backyard ponds make up the majority of new water features added to California each year. It’s easier to get approval for small backyard ponds, whereas large-scale commercial operations involving enormous freshwater ponds will be tightly regulated, if permits are allowed in the first place. Thus, residential owners often build decorative ponds, koi ponds, or natural swimming pools.
Each of these types of ponds should be built with a fish and plant-safe liner such as the products we offer here at BTL liner. You’ll also need to think about native wildlife, and design ponds to handle things like raccoons and muskrats who are known to invade backyard ponds and cause damage. Another thing to consider is the primary and secondary purpose of your pond. While it sounds nice to be able to build a pond where you can keep koi, go swimming, and plant your favorite water lily varieties, the reality is that most ponds will serve one purpose well and perhaps fulfill a secondary purpose adequately. For example, a koi pond might get too dirty at times for swimming to be appealing, but the pond will still be beautiful as decoration. If you plan to build a natural swimming pool, you’ll need to confine plants to the filter bed and leave plenty of open area for swimming.
