Starting to plan a 1 to 2 acre pond on our 80 acre plot. I have attached a few pictures of site we are considering. I have talked to a dirt guy and he thinks he can make it work, but thought I would see if there was something obvious I'm missing. Elevation change from proposed dam area to upper end is about 20 foot by Google Earth but has not been shot with transit yet. His next step was to shoot normal pool and overflow and set flags around the perimeter to see what we got. Then adjust from there to get an estimate on costs and timeframe. I would like to do a siphon for main pool regulation. Looking for a pond to use for fishing, picnicking, and swimming. I don't mind some upkeep but not looking for a full-time job managing the pond. Looking for suggestions.

My biggest recommendation would be to do what you're obviously already doing - read a ton on this site, ask lots of questions and don't be afraid to seek out the experts. I found this site the year AFTER I built my pond, and have spent the last several years living in 'regretsville' because of a variety of mistakes I didn't know were mistakes at the time.

What part of Central IL are you in? I'm in West central - Macoupin CO. Be glad to meet with you and talk ponds, and specifically how I screwed mine up over the years (what not to do).

Verify the watershed that your pond would have is right for it's desired size. Too much watershed and the pond overflows a lot, too little and it won't live at the expected full pool line. Without a well (edit) or spring to keep it full (or other means), the watershed will define what size to build. I can't help you with the calculations, but it's one of the first things to figure out. Along with soil conditions. Once again, I don't know enough to help on that topic either.

The property is located in Brown County, a bit North of Mount Sterling IL.

It looks to have about 7 to 8 acres directly draining down that gully. The upper field could be recontoured to give additional drainage if not enough watershed. I'm not concerned about too much, though at the lower area by the dam there is a pretty good size ditch washed out from water flow as things are.

A few things to consider if you have too much watershed...

1.) The emergency overflow will get more use hence more erosion.

2.) Fish get washed out more often.

3.) A large rain event can change the temperature (or other qualities)of the pond water too quickly and shock the fish causing a fish kill.

4.) The more water that flows into the pond can cause it to fill up with muck sooner.

I don't guess these are deal breakers. My pond (on the property when I bought) has excessive watershed and did OK before I renovated it. Dam was still intact, void of fish for whatever reason, and had 8 feet of muck in the bottom. I still had it dug out and hope to deal with the excessive watershed problem.

7 to 8 acres sounds about right for an acre pond depending on your yearly rainfall, soil absorption (pond leakage), evaporation, etc.

Update:

Should break ground in the next week or so for the pond. Looks like it is going to be close to a 2 acre BOW. Contractor is going to remove trees and re-flag to see what final size and location will be. The dam end of things is fairly rough terrain and heavily wooded, body of pond is mostly a few small trees and brush.

Question on dock pilings, should they be sunk in holes like fence posts or set on concrete pads with concrete surrounding them like floating pad?