Brandon Pond’s naturally wooded area, observation/fishing dock, and walking trails provide an accessible oasis of natural ecosystems. Located at 7800 Brandonway Drive and nestled in the middle of the park between the Brandon, Woods of Dublin, Tree Tops of Brandon, and Bristol Commons subdivisions.
The Brandon Pond restoration project will enhance the existing pond by enlarging, deepening, and benching areas to create a variety of aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems will promote the ability of the pond to sustain aquatic life and give the community a place to enjoy an enhanced park experience.
Current Status (updated April 26, 2022)
In honor of Earth Month, more than 75 volunteers and the City’s horticulture team joined together on April 23 to plant over 25 native trees and 1,000 native plants at Brandon Park Pond!
This project is now substantially complete.
Previous Updates
(updated Nov. 3, 2021)
The pond is now stocked! Now that the aquatic vegetation has had time to establish, fish have been added to the pond. The pond is now home to 500 2-4 inch bluegill, and 100 5-7 inch largemouth bass. The bass are estimated to be big enough to be caught on small lures and live bait. It will probably be a year or so before the bluegill are big enough to be caught. Learn more about fishing in Dublin.
Thank you for your patience and continued support as we enter the final stages of the Brandon Pond Restoration Project.
(June 2021)
The water elevation has now reached a point where we can complete the aquatic planting. Join your neighbors for an aquatic planting project at Brandon Park Pond from 4–6 p.m. Monday, June 28, 2021, as we plant native, aquatic green goodness in and around the pond to support a diverse ecosystem.
Stocking the Pond Update: The plan is to stock the pond this fall. This will give the pond additional time to settle in and for the nutrients and aquatic vegetation to continue to establish. Additionally, we believe that getting through the summer months prior to stocking will give a better opportunity for survivability.
(February 2021)
The combination of snowmelt this winter and expected rainfall in spring should raise the water level of the pond to allow for the aquatic planting to be completed. Currently, the water elevation level is 2-3 feet below the required water level. After the pond reaches that level, Dublin’s design consultant, staff and volunteers will plant native, aquatic plants in the pond to support a diverse ecosystem. To learn more about getting involved in this community project, please email volunteer@dublin.oh.us.
(October 2020)
Twig-or-Treat Volunteer Opportunity on Oct. 31
The City of Dublin thanks the 20 volunteers who signed up to help plant more than 70 small trees and shrubs around the Brandon Pond to replace the foliage that was removed for construction during phase one. This Halloween planting project, aptly named “Twig-or-Treat,” took place on Saturday, Oct. 31. In order to keep everyone safe and healthy, this volunteer opportunity followed physically distancing protocols and was limited to the first 20 registrants.
The grading contractor, Digger McCray, completed the reseeding of the work zone and the temporary cover has been established. The City of Dublin’s consultant, MAD Scientists, are currently in the process of acquiring the small trees and shrubs for re-planting the area at the “Twig-or-Treat” volunteer planting event happening the morning of Oct. 31. MAD Scientists will also broadcast a secondary seed mix over the temporary ground cover, which will provide a natural understory planting similar to what is growing in the rest of the wooded areas.
The pond has only refilled about quarter of its total water volume and will need some good rain / snow events to finally fill completely. Once it reaches the normal water elevation, the aquatic plantings can be added. Unfortunately, this means that those plants will need to wait until spring 2021 to be planted, due to the change in seasons. As the plantings begin to mature, City staff will continue to monitor the area and add additional plants to further enhance the habitat. The recovery will take some time but in the end, Brandon Pond’s ecosystem will be improved for many years to come.
(August 2020)
Delays to this project are the result of the conditions the spring season was this year. However, grading operations are close to completion. All the soils that were removed from the pond were mounded up on the perimeter of the pond. Unfortunately, the soils were also saturated from the amount of rain we received. So when the soil was piled up, the organic material was not able to dry out. Additional work has been added to turn over the soil and let it sit in the sun to dry. It takes a good amount of time to dry the soil out each time the pile is turned it over. Recently, the bigger equipment was removed from the site, but some smaller equipment is being brought in to finish this process. The goal is for the soil to finish drying and final grading to finish up over the next couple of weeks.
Once the grading is finalized, temporary seeding will be placed and then planting can take place this fall. The initial projected completion of April 2020 was set so that planting could occur before summer, but unfortunately the wet winter and rainy spring did allow the project to meet this timeline. Additionally, planting in the summer would cause large numbers of plants to not thrive and possibly die before they could be established. Therefore, it is best to wait until the fall planting window.
(February 2020)
Trees have been removed to clear space for the new spoil mounds (sediment and debris removed from the pond). Most of the trees will be mulched and buried under the spoil mounds. Some of the trees will be used to create habitat in areas around the pond. The contractor has drained the pond down to about a foot deep, and is beginning to reshape the pond based on the new design. MAD Scientist Associates, Inc., the City’s design consultant, is continuing to relocate wildlife.
The construction area is limited to the pond area, with occasional recreation path closures for equipment access from Brandonway Drive. For additional information or questions regarding this project, please contact Landscape Architect Shawn Krawetzki at 614-410-4707 or skrawetzki@dublin.oh.us.
(October 2019)
Thanks to all those who volunteered! With their help and the help of MAD Scientists Associates, we rescued 807 fish, 512 tadpoles, 3 turtles and thousands of macroinvertebrates!
Background
The Brandon Park pond was created in the early 1950s as a farm pond for use as a water source. In the mid-to-late 1980s, housing development began around the pond area, which is now completely surrounded by residential housing and public open space. The pond area has become a great park asset to the surrounding neighborhood and is valued as a natural refuge by residents and wildlife.
Reasons for the Project
Decline of the pond’s ecological health over the years and its unique habitat opportunities has inspired residents and staff to restore its condition. The pond has been “choked out” with sediment and biologic debris that has accumulated over the years. While this is a natural process, it has had a negative impact to the pond’s ecological system to a point that the balance of aquaculture is disappearing. If left unmanaged, the pond will further decline and eventually fill in completely.
Because of this unique habitat, the City of Dublin consulted MAD Scientist Associates, Inc. to develop a plan to restore the pond. The concept plans were presented at a public meeting held in March 2018 with positive feedback on plans to restore the pond’s health. Based on feedback from that meeting, staff and consultants presented the final design plans at a second public meeting in November, again receiving very positive feedback from residents.
Key Design Elements
The City respects how valuable this park is and is taking every measure to minimize impacts to the areas of higher quality and utilize areas in poor condition for spoils and restoration efforts.
- Spoils (sediment and debris) excavated from pond to ensure ecological impact to area is minimized
- Tree survey conducted to identify tree species and whether they are dead, fair or poor in health
- Areas with higher percentages of non-native plant species identified
- Spoil zones directed to low value tree, understory plant, and habitat areas
- Removed plants replaced with native species that provide better habitat and food sources for wildlife
Public Meeting Presentations
