I'm about to purchase a piece of property and I was wanting to put a pond in the back field. The problem is there is a creek running the edge of the property. Every so often, maybe once every three years, this field floods. Could I build the dirt up all the way around that side of the pond and connect it to the big hill on the opposite side? Will this wash away with high water? How wide does this mound of dirt need to be to be effective? Any help would be appreciated.

POOPEN

The more information you provide us with the more we can help. Are you planning on damming the creek? Photos, drawings, acreage, does the creek run constantly, distance to the hill, and spillway plans are helpful information.

Yo, POOPEN...
Please allow me to drive the PB Welcome Wagon over to your thread. May I be so bold as to clear some air right away? Presumably, your moniker indicates that a purchase order is still open?
WRT ponds, anything can be done with money and clay. The money buys the equipment and expertise to design and construct and the clay provides the desired soil type to work with. Your description is somewhat vague, so answers may be scattered and off-target. The creek may be a problem, but based on it's proximity and elevation compared to your pondsite, it may not. Will it be an integral part of the pond, or will it be running outside of the pond...and if so, will it have the potential during high water to run against any portion of the proposed dam? What is your watershed size vs the pond size?
The size of the dam (height, width, slopes fore and aft) are variable based on need, but there are prescribed minimums. The first project is to assess the site (as you are doing) with well-trained oversight (which your new-found PB cronies will try to do). You would do yourself a big favor, tho, to get a local dirt guy that has successfully built ponds in your zone to assess the project. I would like to recommend your local NRCS agent, but I believe that Indiana has low interest in pond construction. Cecil Baird (from Indiana) can likely provide better input.
Lastly, a big help from this end would be a post of your aerial topography. You can extract it from: USGS Terraserver

Thanks guys. The creek will run beside the pond. The problem is the field were I want to put the pond can occasionally be under water from the creek. The last ten years I believe it has flooded 4 times.

The pond would be around an acre to an acre and a half. I'm not sure of the watershed but I know there is a lot, and water stands at the base of the hill for days after a rain.

I was thinking the pond could just be pushed out with a dozer basically forming a c shape with the excavated dirt connecting to the hill. Basically, the pond would be higher than the rest of the field, thus keeping flood waters out. Is this possible? How do you post pictures?

Thanks POOPEN

pic instructions in this thread (about 1/2 way down page 1)

Absolutely. Your fundamental concerns will be soil type, size of watershed (and spillway design), and mitigation of wash from the creek when it's raging. (oh yeah, and who is gonna pay fer it). Your next 2 steps are: reach out to your NRCS office and see what help they can/will provide, even if it's only advice...and...get at least 2 reputable pond contractors (from your area) to look it over. I believe the Indiana NRCS offices will offer recommended names to consider.
edit: btw, this is a busy time of the year for NRCS...you will likely have to be "politely relentless". Don't be quickly disuaded. If nothing else, if you can only get thru to a secretary or support person, tell them what you are doing and that you would like all the soils information possible for the surrounding site. They will be able to send you soils maps and other peripheral, related data. Soils maps can be far from gospel, but they will give you a snapshot. Also ask for the strip maps (color aerial photos). I know that the state of Indiana DNR offers well drilling data on their website. If there are wells within the area, you can usually pull up the soils encountered during drilling and at what depths.

Thanks for your help. I just wanted to make sure my idea was feasable. Now I will have to check out my soil type. Also, I will gather some names of some pond builders in my area. It will probably be a while as I am in the middle of purchasing this property, but I will get back to you brettski. Thanks for everyones help and input.

POOPEN