Okay guys I am currently digging a 1 acre pond 15-18 ft deep at the bottom of my field which is tiled and was once work ground but I turned it into CRP 4 years ago and bought back 1.5 acres to build this pond. I will be running into 4 tile lines spaced 70 ft apart and which I have run into 2 of them so far. The outlet side of the tile lines I am going to dig back and replace with 4" pvc pipe angled up to the height I would like the water level of the pond to be.
Yes I put critter guards onto the 2 tile lines I hit already
Now the ground where the pond is going is pretty flat and the CRP field above it is sloped slightly. My tile lines are 5 ft below the surface so this would make the tile lines going into the pond on the fill side about 3 ft under water. Should I leave these under the 3 feet of water or what is my best option in your guys opinions? I hate to leave it under water in fears of blowing out in my CRP and having to tear up the CRP and replant it which isn't cheap.
I have a few ideas on what I might do but would like to get some input from some people that may have done this before.
Also the tile line in my field is mine and I am not affecting anyone downstream of me.
The pond will leak around any pipes you put through the dam unless you put at least two anti seep collars on each one. Four inch is too small for a spillway for that size pond.
Thanks for the reply John, the pond is completely excavated and not damning up to build it. Sorry I should have clarified that. I appreciate the pointer on the collars for the pipes There will be a total of six 4" tile lines that will be used for overflow.
After 2-3 feet of top soil it is nothing but solid blue clay and so far all the way down to 11 feet of digging it has been nothing but solid clay with no rocks or sand in the clay. Had a sample tested with less that 1/2 a percent of sand in it.
Consider running the tiles into a settling pond at their current level and putting a tile or culvert from the settling pond into the main pond. This would address the issue that you described plus provide a sediment trap to help keep the main pond cleaner.
To put a settling pond in I would then need to take more CRP out to be able to drive between the 2 ponds. I only have 5 acres of CRP. And between the grass and the ponds edge will be around 15'
I was going to build a sediment trap with a 55 gallon drum so each tile line would flow into those to settle and then would have multiple pvc pipes coming out of the 55 gallon drum into the pond. I had thought putting a 1 way valve onto each of the tile lines when doing this too @ the drum.
Where the pond is being dug the ground is about level. And up to the grass edge. Then about at the grass edge and up the CRP field the tile line starts to go up hill.
On my first pond, I had clay tiles running in and just left them as is. I personally would not run tiles uphill for fear of blockage at the low spot in the future.
I have run into some of the original clay tiles myself and 2 of them are still working too but only 3' below the surface. The tile lines are already existing and the CRP and they are uphill of the pond, the pond is in the low spot.
I know I could dig the pond deeper to keep it below the tile inlet and build the pond around that, but I prefer not to have a pond that looks like a crater. I was expecting the tile lines to be 3' below the surface and not 5' which is what is hurting me right now.
Here in the pic with the CRP you can see that the ground slopes up about at the grass edge.
The tile outlet is 5 feet below the surface and I was going to raise it 3 feet to have the water line about 2 feet below the grounds edge. So that would make the tile inlet about 3 feet below the waters level maybe less with the little slope of land.
the water in the pic is about 9 feet deep at the edge on the right side of the first pic.
I should have been clearer in indicating that my clay tiles enter way below the pond full-pool mark of my pond, and for me, they have not caused any leaks. If you have permeable soil around your tiles that escapes to an area below your full-pool line, things may be different for you.
Yes, they currently run only into the pond. Any tiles running out were cut, removed, and the area where they were intersected by a core trench under the dam. The issue with tiles coming into the pond is if water backs up and then finds a way through permeable soil to get around the pond or down to the water table.
Gotcha. I was thinking of placing a 4" 1 way valve on my inlet tile lines inside a 55 gallon drum with a removable lid if I needed to gain access to it to repair or replace and also to clean sediment out weekly.
I have attached a crude drawing of what I was kinda thinking of doing.
Could you add this later if you find the pond water drops below the tiles? I tend to start simple if adding extras is easy later. I actually installed a valve on a bottom drain for my newest pond in case it leaked and I needed to drain it for repairs. It holds like a drum and now I wished I had capped it for a more secure seal.
Thanks and will try Would have had it done 2 years ago but didn't, but am know finally getting it dug My old man says leave the lines underwater it won't hurt with them back flowing since the field will stay in CRP so if we got wet spots in it, it wouldn't be any issues.
I think I will just put them in a 55 gallon drum to use for sediment and drill towards the top for a bunch of pvc pipes sticking out for the water to go out into the pond. Then I can just take the top off the barrel to access inside to clean out any sediment. And it will also work as a big critter guard to keep things out of the tile line
From what little I know, I agree with your dad. You can always add these if things are not working using the simple approach. With CRP over the tiles, the water coming out should be pretty clean.
Thanks RAH These tile lines were put in back in 1987-1989 so he said they are established and have there channels already so he wouldn't be worried about any silt. Thanks for the reassurance!!
Just going to have them flow into 55 gallon plastic barrels and overflow out of them into the pond Will see how that goes and report back to let others know
