Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions water question

Pond was dug in early sept this year. Was clay and sandy ground, was dug when was dry and with a heavy dozer. When aguring the dock post pulled up good clay. We have not had much rain but the pond is holding 4-5ft of water. Now every rain it will fill up a couple feet then go back down to orginal level, but has not went completly dry. Seems like it will never fill up. Has anyone had this problem or any suggestion already looking into benotnite. Hoping it seals off.

Brian, if your water is always going back to the same level after a rain event, it sounds like that is the level of your leak. If it was dug "dry", and just with a dozer, the tracks have less PSI under the them than your refrigerator does on each peg....also, there may not have been enough moisture in the clay to ever achieve compaction to begin with.

Is your pond level staying at what was roughly the original ground level? Was the dam "cored" (a trench dug down the centerline till reaching good clay, then back filled in 6" lifts and compacted tightly)?

My first thought is it wasn't and water is running under your dam. IF this is the case, you could probably pump out the current water and get your dozer guy to return with a Sheepsfoot roller compactor and compact the entire pool area tightly.