Welcome to the forum, Trevor!
You have a lot of potential for something really special if you want! Let me start by saying a pond is not something you want to do a little at a time if you are concerned about costs. It is FAR more expensive to re-work a completed pond than it is to build what you ultimately want, right, the first time!
My first question is....Isn't there a drain culvert under that road??? Could it just be covered and/or plugged? Was the road built up with rock? I am thinking something more than "poor soils" are letting that water out. Bentonite tilled into the top couple feet of the pond basin soil, then properly compacted could be a reasonable cure for not having quality clay nearby. Ask your area NRCS rep at your local USDA office to come out and take core samples for you. the service is taxpayer supported and free to use.
I am thinking at first, it would be easiest to build up and compact the water side of that road and put in drains large enough to carry huge volumes of water under your current road, or possibly even build up the road some to make a larger pond...
Your Heat pump at 6-8 GPM, intermittently, will not even start to keep up with evaporation in 1/4 acre of water surface in the summer months....runoff or a dedicated, larger well would be needed.
Last edited by Rainman; 04/14/15 11:23 PM.
