I'm trying to save every penny I can to have a pond built on my new property. Use to be a hay field with nothing on it, Man trees are expensive... I had the local NRCS guy out and he reviewed my property. I do not have any source of water only watershed. He informed me that he believed I have about 15 acres of watershed and believed the site would be good for the pond. I then had a local pond buider come out and he is hesitate. He believed the pond would be about 1 1/2 acre in size and wasnt sure if it would fill up. He told me to dig a test hole and we would know further. I just want to be sure there is enough water to fill the pond up before going through all the expenses. I own about 13 acres and the pond location is the lowest part of my property. There is a 20 acre hay field on the east side of my property that has two field drains coming onto my property that connect to my field drains that go to a ravine inside the woods. The contractor thinks the drains are plugged and I may not be getting the watershed I need. Any Ideas or input would be greatly appreciated. I also dug my test hole as deep as my little digger would go about 7 feet. I cant tell anything. No water down there and it just looks like dirt to me. I waiting for the contractor to return. Thanks sorry so long

The formula is simple in principle: "water in" minus "water out". Evaporation takes some water out but in most cases leakage is the culprit. Fifteen acres of watershed seems plenty if you have minimal leakage. A good clay base/liner is key. Double check and be sure that you know how much water really drains toward your pond vs. away from the pond, and spend the money to be sure that your pond is sealed. I am 30 miles west of Indy - where are you in the state? BTW trees are pretty cheap if you buy seedlings. We have 20 year-old trees that we grew from seed that are 30 feet tall. It just takes patience. We have planted lots of seedings over the years and now have about 20,000 trees growing on our place.

i live near a river, and there is gravel everywhere, my property has a high water table, and lots of sand and clay with gravel mixed in. i want to dig a pond, and am wondeering if i can sell the subsstrate to pay for costs of digging pond. not sure where to start.

RAH, i sent you a PM.