Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site New Pond Question

Hey guys, I'm in the process of clearing trees for a new pond on my farm. The pond is going to be fed by a creek and I was wondering if the water level could be above the mouth of the creek? The creek is currently about 10ft. below where I would like for the water level to be (this is the mouth of the creek).

The reason I ask is because I've heard some people around home say that you should not have the water level above the creek and some say that it doesn't matter and won't affect the pond's aeration. The plan is for this to be a 1 - 1 1/2 acre pond that will be stocked.

Anybody have any thoughts as to which way I should go with this?

Hang on Hokie and and expert should be along to answer your question. Welcome to Pond Boss, we're glad you found us.

...Hokie hang on
(Theo...take it)

YEA BABY!

Everyone break out your Alphorns (or Goth Gnome Smoking Pipe).

Or if you prefer the "real" McCoys.

If you can watch the second video and not smile at least once, you should check with your doctor because you're probably dead.

Oh and Hokie sorry for the distraction, we're simple folk and easily amused (oh and just as a heads up, it's best not to show us shiny objects when you're trying to talk to us).

Bump for anyone with a clear mind.

I've never been accused of having a clear mind but...

I think I would keep it well below the water level of the creek. I know of a couple of flow thru ponds and they scare the daylights out of me when big rains come. If you keep it at creek level, you have no way to control fish movement. If you're looking for something to water livestock, that might be different.

hokie4life

Great to have you on the forum, You have found a good place for information and as you have seen to have some fun.

How much water do you have in the creek?

Does it run all the time?

Are there any other ponds on this creek?

Thanks for the info Dave. I don't think I will have a problem with fish movement because there won't be anyway for the them to go upstream because it's the mouth of the creek. I think that is what you are saying?

-Justin

I had no idea that there was such a place like this on the internet and I finally came across yall one day!

The amount of water in the creek is typically 2" H x 3' W and is one that we have never seen dry up in the dryest of years. It has good flow that has been continous in dry years and we feel as if it will be adequate for our pond.

There aren't any ponds other ponds on this creek as we are at the mouth of it.

I'm still trying to figure out posting pictures on here, but I uploaded 2 pictures to Google so everyone could hopefully understand what exactly I'm talking about.

Pond Pictures

The picture that I drew in Paint (which is terrible) shows exactly the condition as you enter the woods from the field in the other picture. There is a steep dropoff of appox. 10ft which is where the creek begins. What we wanted to do was dam up downstream to where the water level would come up to the edge of the field at the tree line. We are just concerned that we could possibly stop up the creek / not get good aeration in the pond.

The reason why we want to raise it to this level is so that we can take full advantage of the lay of land as much as possible!



oh...nice videos guys!...those were pretty good!

hokie4life

Building in a creek that has a lot of water like yours would need a good way to get rid of the water --spillway
Taking advantage of the lay of the land is always a good idea but lets listen to Dave, The volume of water is the main thing to think about.

Continual flow at the mouth of a creek usually means means a spring. Never stopping running means a pretty good aquifer that will probably never suck water from the pond. I like that and wish I had any source of water.

The downside, other than possibly flooding, might be water quality. If it isn't right any measures, including liming and/or fertilizing, would be a lost cause. You could wind up with gin clear water that defies attempts to doctor it for the sake of fish. What amount of gpm are we talking about? You might wind up breaking even with evaporation in the summer but not in the winter.

Consider a siphon system on the dam just in case.

Have the spring water tested to see what it's ph and alkilinity amount to. Generally, well water is devoid of oxygen. I would want it to flow over rocks or some other type of baffling to mix in O2. Also consider aeration. Have you noticed that I'm pretty good at spending your $?

Dave, thinking out loud here, but couldn't low alkalinity and PH be corrected by adding Limestone gravel to the streambed entering the pond or even adding limestone gravel beds near the water entrance IN the pond?

How will you get the water up hill if the creek is below the pond ? If there is enough water force it might work. Are you going to back the water up over the spring so that it is in the pond bottom ? That will work as long as the pressure at the spring head is greater than the pressure of the water at depth.

Rainman, I don't know anything about limestone rocks other than what I read here. To me, fresh water needs time to leach from soils.

What we don't know is the quality, alkilinity wise, of the spring water. Lots of unknowns on flow through water holes.

Eric, I'm making an assumption that when the description "Mouth of the creek" is being used, it is in reality the head water creating the creek instead.

This project looks very similar to what I did a couple of years back. There is no way to raise the pond above the level of the creek, without a pump. Water seeks its own level. I had to move way over 100,000 yards of dirt. Plan on using a siphon for level control and a nice wide spillway for emergency overflow. An important question is what is your watershed area?