We're meeting with the pond builder tomorrow and I'm thinking about something similar to Brettski which I'll call plan C.
Plan A is a 4 acre pond with what I believe to be a fairly traditional contour.
Plan B at full pool would be something like 7 acres. The contractor previously expressed doubts about that choice. I think one reason is that much of the additional area would be fairly shallow, maybe less than 2 feet on average without substantial excavation. If we excavate this area to a deeper level then I believe we get into issues of water supply for this volume of water. Also this would probably be pretty costly.
Plan C, which is at this point only in MY head, is to build the dam at the higher level, but not to excavate the shallow area, and to leave many or all of the trees. Most of the shallows would be in the narrow portion of the pond where the main run-off enters it. It would roughly be a triangle about 150 feet on each bank and about the same distance across the pond.
In a normal weather pattern the shallows would be covered almost all year. With the current drought it would be dry. My understanding is that many types of trees can tolerate some minimal flooding for months at a time if they have alternating dry spells. There are tulip poplars, sweetgums, water oaks, and some pines. Many of these trees are constantly wet already, in absence of drought conditions. Since I can't count on future dry periods (hopefully), I was wondering about installing an alternate spillway for a lower pool level that would leave the shallows dry. That way if the rain was steady again I could open this other spillway and give the trees the dry period they need to survive.
I'm curious what effects raising and lowering the level once or twice a year would have on the banks that have been rimmed. Could this have some benefits? Also would what I've described make a useful habitat for land and pond creatures, one or both?
If this were my pond only I might wait and do more research, but this is Cindy's pond (and money) and she doesn't want to wait. My little pond will be more straight forward. I think.
