Eastland, to save some future dollars, I would think about building the first dam with the plans to raise it later. Build it wider at the base and you can add to it later without the expense of building a new dam from the ground up. Instead of a 12 foot crown, maybe make it 18 feet. Then, the money you might have spent to build a new dam you can use to excavate and sculpt the perimeter of the new water.
Teach a man to grow fish... He can teach to catch fish...
