Hey guys I've been thinking. I was orginally planning to start putting a pond in this spring in the front yard. But, I keep thinking about drainage mainly being a problem. I talked to a older guy that build tons of ponds as a sideline his whole life, and he said it shouldn't be a problem putting it there. The pic shows the front yard and elevation wise it is a high piece of ground that is mostly flat. It starts to slope down in the left side of the pic and drop from there. My goal was a one acre. Do you see any problems?
Where does the primary line to that transformer come from and were does the secondary go? You can put a pond about anywhere depending on how much money you want to spend. It does look like a lot of dirt will have to be hauled away.
It shoots straight to that telephone pole on the right, I was going to use that as the boundary line. Forgot to say that its nothing but clay past one foot down.
How much land will drain into it?
approximately 2 acres
2 acres wouldn't be enough to fill and maintain a 1 acre pound were I am at
Is there any kind a formula where you can look up rainfall statistics and plug in the drainage area to arrive at an appropriate pond size? Also, Fordman mentioned that it's all clay below one foot... How will that impact the pond? Certainly clay can help keep water IN the pond but then... how does it GET into the pond? Without manually filling in some way I mean...
I like to see at least 3 to 1 ratio of drainage area to the size of the pond / lake . One acre pond , 3 acre's draining in to it . Pond construction information from USDA . http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1246427.pdf
Oooo... Thanks for the link. That's a great download.
Fordman, I've dug a few ponds through the years and I'll write that clay is great/best. What you should do is a test dig and make sure, but it sounds like you have a good idea. Another thing, just because one area is clay does not mean another is. I have seen areas that are fairly close(neighbors)one will be clay and just a few 100 feet away it will be sand. Sand is useless for ponds unless you plan to do some type of lining. I agree with having a reasonable drain, each way, in and out. With that, I'd also find out about the water table and if there are any springs in your direct dig area. I had a couple of ponds that had springs and once I broke into them it made digging a chore(at the time all I had was a dozer). BUT with the springs came a great water supply, in the heat of the driest part of summer my pond might drop 6-8" at most. On average a 3'(out) to 1'(down) slope is desirable, but this is not set in stone. I also found that a nice deep edge is best, unless you like cattails and other weeds taking over. I do not see an issue with your actual dig area, just make sure you have good soil or it could get very PRICY. Also keep in mind, if your land is rocky(boulders), the joke where I use to live was that we grew rocks. Boulders can become a PITA when it's time to dig. Last, but probably the most important, what do you plan to do with the spoils? Many folks think that digging a hole in the ground is the hard part of a pond, its NOT, finding a place to move the spoils to can make or break the whole plan.
I will be digging more test holes in the spring. The dirt doesnt pose a problem, but moving it may. We have had the county dump their dirt when they clean ditches to the right of that photo that we use for fill on jobsites. So would a 3 to 1 all the way to the bank be preferable?
Yair . . . Once again this forum is source of information as to how folks think and do things in other places. I have dug hundreds of ponds/dams/tanks/water features whatever you wish to call them and have never considered hauling any spoil away unless it could be utilised to advantage on another site. Almost without exception it is possible by means of a bank to get some useful water storage above existing ground level and spoils not required for bank construction and profiling can be blended and landscaped into the surrounding area. As far as catch area goes buy negotiation with neighbours I have on several occasions been able to arrange for some diversion by way of subtle contouring to catch water that would otherwise run to "waste" . . . in one case about five acres of catch gained to the advantage of all concerned. Cheers.
So would a 3 to 1 all the way to the bank be preferable? Yep