Hello! I am in the infant stage of building a 2-3 acre pond. So far, so good. The soil guy came out and said that I have a clay foundation. I will have to clearcut the hardwoods in the creek bottom and then go from there. My question is What should I do 1st, have a pond builder maybe 2
come out and shoot the lay-out, give me an idea about how big and where they see the water level goig? How many bids should I get? I plan on selling the timber, and having a friend with a 10 ft blade dozer clear the proposed site, burn the stumps, and then get a professional pond builder, design the pond, build the dam, etc. Is it worth trying to get government funding? I was told in October, you can ask for money(provided they have some) and if the land has an erosion problem(which it does) then I may qualify. They will pay 75% and I would have to pay 25%. Sounds attractive and I can use all the help I can get. Here in Mississippi, the soil and conservation office does'nt build the ponds but pays contractors the money to do it. I was just wondering if anyone has been successful getting financial help. Lastly, I guess what I am asking is What should I do 1st in order to move forward with my dream of having a pond and getting it built?
If you have been there and done that, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Many Thanks!

David Flanagan

I have a NRCS done pond. Essentially, you fill out paperwork and then see if you qualify. They look over your land to determine whether a pond will work. Also, of consideration is whether you are doing things to benefit wildlife. Since I have 3 wheat patches for deer and turkeys, this gave me some needed points. I don't recall all of the details on the selection process but they know what they are doing. Very knowledgable people. They have an annual budget and only a certain number of ponds are approved. Mine was part of an overall package involving other land clearing, grazing capacity, etc. After all, they are an Agriculture Agency and not a fishing hole organization. If you are selected, you select/hire the dozer people after they do the design. It is a fixed cost deal based on amount of dirt moved. They also pay for seeding of the dam area. What they don't pay for is clearing to get to the area, road building around it and all of the niceties to make it enjoyable. They pay for dirt moving. The contractors understand the deal and what they are being paid to do. They know that they have to make the NRCS happy and that makes good sense. One contractor told me that he doesn't make money on the dam building but on the other work the landowner wants/needs. It is my observation that this is where the dozer operator puts his machine into granny gear instead of road gear. He is being paid by the hour and you have to be just as careful here as you are with any other contractor. You will also have a contract with the NRCS to run for several years in which they come by and check on things. No big deal. Also, if you sell the land before the contract ends, you have to repay them for the stuff they had done. I think the term is 3 or 4 years. I've talked to people who say they wouldn't do it again and those that like the program. I like it. Heck, I don't see much downside to it other than waiting until the annual selection meeting to see if you qualify. Even if you don't qualify, I think you can request their assistance on site selection and other technical stuff that I didn't and still don't know enough about. Give them a call. I think it would be worth it.

There are also some other programs out there that may help. One is the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and another is I think the Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP). Both are cost share (your 75%/25% deal) programs and vary by funds availability and such. I'm not an NRCS expert, but you could easily check out the programs at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ . This will give you some basic info. They all fall under the Farm Bill, which recently saw more money flow into it. I think all programs are state run and federally funded.

sounds like you did the 1st step,that is checking to make sure your land will hols water,next i would shoot levels to get size of pond and water levels.last part,government funding:good luck.not saying it can't be done,i'm sure there are people on this site who have done it and it worked,but i do know 3-4 people who waited forever and never got anything.i also know 1 of these guys who got the ok and 2 years later guess what still no money for his project.i bet you can find 500 people to ever one that got nothing.so,my answer would be if you want to waste alot of time(maybe 1-2 years) and maybe get something go for it,i did not get past the 1st meeting with them when i decided if i wanted a pond within a reasonable time i better pull the check book out.

i agree with fish,allthough i would change the odds to 1,000 to 1.i'm sure in different parts of the country people have better luck than others.i have allways heard it takes alot of time and if you have time to wait you might get something done.i've only known 1 person to try and they did not have much luck.if you have time to kill give them a chance,i bet in mississippi they have there share of request from people all wanting money to build ponds.good luck.

NRCS in my area is a totally useless entity.
I've been in the EQIP and CRP program for the
last 3 years. Not only did I get no consideration
for cost share, but the local office here in NE Texas has been irresponsible, unprofessional,
and lackadaisical in their dealings with me.
I proceeded without the cost share, and their
promises of assistance in the dam/pipe design and elevation survey never materialized.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by squeeky:
[QB]NRCS in my area is a totally useless entity.
Not only did I get no consideration
for cost share, but the local office here in NE Texas has been irresponsible, unprofessional,
and lackadaisical in their dealings with me.

NRCS in my parish must be staffed by the same people. I called them before I started digging my pond and asked for a soil survey. THey told me they didn't have to, because they "know the soil makeup down to 100 feet in my area," and I could dig as deep as I wanted with no danger of contacting the water table. (Yea, right. In south Louisiana??) At 7 feet, I started hitting water. I went to seek their advice and the first thing out of their mouths was "Well you should have come here FIRST before you started digging and asked for a soil survey!!" I just walked out. The NRCS offices in the two parishes adjacent to me are exactly the opposite. GReat folks to deal with but they are limited to how much they can do because of jurisdictional issues.