Howdy Pond Bosses,

Been on here a while and have had a few successful pond projects over the years. I have a small 5 acre spot just outside of San Antonio that is begging me for a pond. Before I start digging, I wanted to get some opinions and make sure I'm not setting myself up for failure.

-The spot is approximately 100x100 in easy digging black soil that is very porous. There is clay, but I don't think I could rely on it. For this small pond, I would be looking at a liner or a lining solution/betonite.

-I have electric and well water on the property. I am coming up with around ~800gals of evaporation a month in summer, which is sustainable - I understand that this is variable depending on average heat and wind, any preferred calculators out there?

-My goals are a small, aesthetically pleasing pond where my kids can catch bluegill and catfish easily. I am interested in the fresh fish food source, and teaching them the circle of life. Planning on regular feeding and aeration as needed.


My concerns-
-Is this just too small of a body of water in the summer months of South Texas to maintain? I do not want an algae trough.
-What would be an appropriate depth to shoot for in a .25 acre pond? Any recommendations on successful designs in South Texas?

I will have access to a case backhoe for most of July and am planning on digging myself.

I appreciate your thoughts and feedback.
Thank you

The real experts will have detailed advice, but if it were me I'd start by looking at the watershed. How many acres would drain into the pond? What kind of annual rainfall do you have? Do you have a well to supplement water during dry spells? If so, what is the chemistry of the well water, will it need amendment before you put it into the lake?

Wish you the best of luck in your endeavor!

The deeper you make it, provided it doesn't leak, the less likely it is to go dry.

Like a lot of us in parts of Texas, rain is a boom or bust matter. You can use a liner and they are fairly expensive. The latest Pond Boss mag has a liner article by Otto and it's not a DIY type job. If there is a good source of clay anywhere near, I might start there.

Would I try it? Absolutely

I own a full size back hoe, a 100 hp tracked skid steer, and a full sized dump truck. My pond is 1/3 of an acre. Myself and an employee dug off and on it for over two years. We hauled of hundreds of dump truck loads of dirt and didn't even get it halfway dug. I hired a large excavator, a big dozer, and two belly dump trucks. The excavator never moved it just loaded trucks while the dozer fed it. Using the two belly dumps and my dump truck we completed the digging in 12 hours moving what I estimate to be close to 3,000 yards of dirt.

You have no idea how much dirt comes out of a hole until you start digging. I do a lot of dirt type work and it amazed me how much came out. The dirt fluffs up as you dig as it is compacted in the ground. The pile of dirt will be larger than the hole.

A backhoe has about a 1 yard loader bucket and a backhoe bucket that is about 1/4 yard. If your pond needs say 4,000 yards dug out that is 16,000 backhoe buckets. Where are you taking the dirt? It is no impossible but not very practical. It is the wrong tool for the job. With a backhoe you can only dig so much before you have to move which takes time.

I would hire it out to people with the right equipment. I spent about 5k hiring the trucks, dozer and excavator for mine. It would have taken me hundreds of hours and no telling how much diesel to do what they did in a day and a half.

This was the post that got me thinking of a pond again..heh. I only have about .45 of an acre area to build, but I plan to have someone ELSE dig it out :P

I am hoping, and you would be amazed how many will do it, that I can find people that WANT the dirt and can cut a little of the cost on that, but.. either way, I am sure I will find a place to haul it to.

I ordered the book on here that gives advise. Looking at the magazine, but sure would love to see the copy that talks about lining a pond....gotta plan the budget out to see which year I get to do any of this :P

Also, I am assuming that hiring an expert to come out and help design it would be a worthwhile expense, so I do not dig and THEN find out what I should have done.

Russ

Russ, I've found out that having to re-do a pond that wasn't done correctly the first time costs about the same as doing it right the first time, i.e. you are doubling the price of the pond by doing it wrong the first time.

Uh, confused. I am not redoing a pond, I am planning one on my place....but I agree with you, hence why I ordered "the book" off here.. heh.. and am reading as much as I can in the forums while it ships

The lady next door... if we got along better, may have been worth redoing that one, since it is totally dry anyway almost as if it did not exist.. heh.. but I like the idea of a smaller one on MY place than a bigger one on hers.

Anyone can dig a hole but will it hold water. I live in Sutherland springs tx not far from you. I don't think you relize how much work it is digging a pond out. I think you will be happier if you hire a expert. I hired a guy with a d5 dozer with a 6 way blade and ripper used a transit laser used all the soil didn't haul anything off made a nice dam and spill way that goes around the dam and holds water good.i can give you his name and number he advertises in tghe Wilson county paper

lol.. lost track, thought this thread was mine because I had asked almost the same thing :P

Nice pics!

Russ