I have dug (but not yet filled) a 2.5 acre pond with a 0.5 acre island in the middle. I am now digging a 500 foot long stream that will be used to circulate water from one side of the pond back around to the other side. I would appreciate any advice on what type of stone to put in the stream.
The goals of the stream are to 1) help with filtration and circulation, 2) give walleye a place to potentially spawn, and 3) be fun for kids.
I will be using a series of airlift pumps to pull water into the start of the stream. The stream will be roughly 12 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep. There will be no “head”, just high volume horizontal flow. Together the airlift pumps should move about 120,000 GPH resulting in a flow rate of just over 1 ft/second through the stream.
Right now I am thinking of putting a one foot layer of 0.5” to 1” washed round stone along the bottom, which would sit on top of landscaping cloth, which would sit on top of solid clay. My thinking is that this stone will be nicest for kids to walk on barefoot, but I’m wondering if it might not create big enough gaps for walleye eggs to spawn.
What do you all think? Anything I could be doing differently?
