Hill Country Ponds w/ waterfall & stream - 02/21/11 05:26 PM
1st post from a newly minted member and landscape contractor in Central Texas who is seeking pond design advice from this stunningly wise group of PondBossers. My experience is based on smaller lined ponds, water features, and a bit of research - particularly from this great site. Fortunately my customer for this project is a very patient friend who is really excited about it.
We are planning a series of 3 fish ponds originating from a draw, which seems to drain about 7 acres or so. We plan to augment the available water with a new well near the bottom pond. The dry creek bed has wonderful deep soil from silting over the years, but is surrounded by porous limestone (and lots of dry ponds) nearby. For that reason we’re thinking that we’ll line the ponds with 24 mil reinforced polyethylene covered with appropriate material (soil, gravel?) to protect from the deer, or ‘mice on roller skates’ as they are sometimes called here. Whatever cover we use, I’m hoping it will enable the clearest water possible.
The mid sized pond near thehouse is planned to be about 35x90 and we’re hoping to install large flat boulders at the waterline to form a ledge from which to fish and ponder. We’re planning for the liner to be tucked into the soil just above the height of the boulders, with the boulders sitting on top of the liner on an excavated earthen shelf wide enough to hold the boulders and deep enough that the waterline will cover the bottom of the boulders. Would love some feedback on this, particularly regarding the cushion needed for the liner, and methods/material needed to keep the liner cover material from sliding down the sloped sides of the pond.
The small pond will be about 75‘ downstream (-5’ ele), just in front of a culvert which extends under the main driveway. We’re hoping to pump water from this small pond back up into the house pond which will feed a waterfall and stream between the two, flowing at about 6500 GPH or so. At the moment we’re thinking that the water will flow directly back into the house pond, which will have the main spillway directed to the waterfall. Quite open to suggestions as I’m not sure what this will do to turbidity, water clarity, etc. Another possibility is that the return can feed a waterfall that drops into the pond – this would have much better visibility from the house.
Would it be feasible to have a 3 tier spillway for the house pond? Perhaps the first stage is spilling over the waterfall, then a siphon spillway maybe .5’ higher to contain the flow over the waterfall, and then an earthen aux spillway to handle the flood type flows. Thoughts?
The last pond , which is another 350’ down the draw (-10’ ele from house pond) is the biggest, about 3x the size of the house pond. This will need some work, as it is currently leaking badly, likely due to porous limestone. The plan is to locate the well near this pond, and pump water up to the house pond with the intent of keeping all of the ponds at a constant level. Not sure what kind of flow I’ll need, but the overflow will end up back in the main pond eventually, so it would seem that too much is better, as long as we don’t kill the electricity bill in the process. Was thinking that ~12gpm would be adequate, but would love your thoughts on this, appropriate pumps, etc.
I’m told that 220V is better for long runs (w/ pump connected sufficiently away from the water for safety reasons), so planning to drop a line roughly parallel to the draw from the house to the lower big pond. Although I’m not fond of the thought of digging 2 trenches (one for the 220 and 110 lines, and one for the irrigation pipe, control lines, LV lighting, etc), I’m thinking that this may be the way to go. Comments?
Above the house pond we’re installing a series of silt collection dams, the first of which basically ‘fans out’ the draw from 4’ to about 18’ and is roughly level laterally w/ ~2% slope ending with a leaky boulder damn. This in turn leads to a 2nd similar dam, with room for more silt before reaching the house pond. I’ve seen comments about using pits, fabric, plantings, etc., and would like your comments on best practices for silt collection. I’ve also seen what appears to be organic material rolled up in plastic mesh, forming long skinny flexible hose shaped cylinders (maybe 8-12” in dia) which are then placed in a U shape in road ditches to presumably catch silt and debris – would this be a good option for ponds?
For circulation in both the house pond and big pond, we’re looking at Bottom Diffuser-Type aerators. I’ve seen several comments that these should not be mounted at the bottom of the pond, but perhaps this is for colder water situations up north. Do these cause the water to be more cloudy?
For those who make it to the end of this post, I applaud your patience, and you have my gratitude. I’m looking forward to your insights.
Kevin
We are planning a series of 3 fish ponds originating from a draw, which seems to drain about 7 acres or so. We plan to augment the available water with a new well near the bottom pond. The dry creek bed has wonderful deep soil from silting over the years, but is surrounded by porous limestone (and lots of dry ponds) nearby. For that reason we’re thinking that we’ll line the ponds with 24 mil reinforced polyethylene covered with appropriate material (soil, gravel?) to protect from the deer, or ‘mice on roller skates’ as they are sometimes called here. Whatever cover we use, I’m hoping it will enable the clearest water possible.
The mid sized pond near thehouse is planned to be about 35x90 and we’re hoping to install large flat boulders at the waterline to form a ledge from which to fish and ponder. We’re planning for the liner to be tucked into the soil just above the height of the boulders, with the boulders sitting on top of the liner on an excavated earthen shelf wide enough to hold the boulders and deep enough that the waterline will cover the bottom of the boulders. Would love some feedback on this, particularly regarding the cushion needed for the liner, and methods/material needed to keep the liner cover material from sliding down the sloped sides of the pond.
The small pond will be about 75‘ downstream (-5’ ele), just in front of a culvert which extends under the main driveway. We’re hoping to pump water from this small pond back up into the house pond which will feed a waterfall and stream between the two, flowing at about 6500 GPH or so. At the moment we’re thinking that the water will flow directly back into the house pond, which will have the main spillway directed to the waterfall. Quite open to suggestions as I’m not sure what this will do to turbidity, water clarity, etc. Another possibility is that the return can feed a waterfall that drops into the pond – this would have much better visibility from the house.
Would it be feasible to have a 3 tier spillway for the house pond? Perhaps the first stage is spilling over the waterfall, then a siphon spillway maybe .5’ higher to contain the flow over the waterfall, and then an earthen aux spillway to handle the flood type flows. Thoughts?
The last pond , which is another 350’ down the draw (-10’ ele from house pond) is the biggest, about 3x the size of the house pond. This will need some work, as it is currently leaking badly, likely due to porous limestone. The plan is to locate the well near this pond, and pump water up to the house pond with the intent of keeping all of the ponds at a constant level. Not sure what kind of flow I’ll need, but the overflow will end up back in the main pond eventually, so it would seem that too much is better, as long as we don’t kill the electricity bill in the process. Was thinking that ~12gpm would be adequate, but would love your thoughts on this, appropriate pumps, etc.
I’m told that 220V is better for long runs (w/ pump connected sufficiently away from the water for safety reasons), so planning to drop a line roughly parallel to the draw from the house to the lower big pond. Although I’m not fond of the thought of digging 2 trenches (one for the 220 and 110 lines, and one for the irrigation pipe, control lines, LV lighting, etc), I’m thinking that this may be the way to go. Comments?
Above the house pond we’re installing a series of silt collection dams, the first of which basically ‘fans out’ the draw from 4’ to about 18’ and is roughly level laterally w/ ~2% slope ending with a leaky boulder damn. This in turn leads to a 2nd similar dam, with room for more silt before reaching the house pond. I’ve seen comments about using pits, fabric, plantings, etc., and would like your comments on best practices for silt collection. I’ve also seen what appears to be organic material rolled up in plastic mesh, forming long skinny flexible hose shaped cylinders (maybe 8-12” in dia) which are then placed in a U shape in road ditches to presumably catch silt and debris – would this be a good option for ponds?
For circulation in both the house pond and big pond, we’re looking at Bottom Diffuser-Type aerators. I’ve seen several comments that these should not be mounted at the bottom of the pond, but perhaps this is for colder water situations up north. Do these cause the water to be more cloudy?
For those who make it to the end of this post, I applaud your patience, and you have my gratitude. I’m looking forward to your insights.
Kevin