Howdy Everyone,

My wife and I just had a new pond constructed last October. It is approx. 1/2 acre and 15ft. deep at the deepest. We were assisted by the NRCS and found a reputable contractor. The pond is about 2/3 full and since we are in Oklahoma that will be about all we get until late October. The dam is seeping a little and I expect that will seal with time? The water is still very turbid. Do you folks think I should take measures to clear up the water and put some bluegill in about Sept. of this year or should I wait until the seepage stops?

Thanks,
Patrick

Patrick, The seepage might not stop. A lot of ponds seep a little and (I personally think) is not a showstopper. I believe I would check my water quality, alkilinity and PH, before I stocked.If they are ok, I don't see aproblem.

Dave,

Thanks for the input! I'll monitor the water and see what comes up. What do you think about clearing the suspended clay particles? Should I leave them in hopes that they will slow the seepage, or throw in some old hay and start the clearing process?

Thanks,
Patrick

Pat,

If you use the hay you might as well do nothing. It rarely works and takes time. I would go with gypsum or aluminum sulfate with a buffer after you prevent any soil from washing in. If your Ph is not that high and alkalinity and hardness low you can kill two birds with one stone by adding the gypsum. However in my area gypsum does not work well for clearing as the water is already very hard and alkalinity is almost off the scale it is so high. My ph is high too in the middle 8's.

On one of my ponds I purchased 6 foot wide burlap in 300 ft rolls for about $100.00 a roll fron a burlap supplier on the Internet and after seeding I staked it down around the bank. Above that I spread straw. Or if you don't want to spend that kind of money you can just use straw over the grass seed. I was amazed at how well the burlap worked. Even in a gully washer no soil washed in!

No use in clearing it if you don't stop what is causing it to be turbid in the first place. It will just get turbid again. Get that grass grows ASAP.

Patrick, Cecil is absolutely right. Why is the water turbid? Turbid can be anything from advanced muddy to kind of grayish. If you have had a lot of recent rain, you may just have a temporary problem that Mama Nature will fix without resorting to chemicals. Suspended sand that doesn't settle is another problem that alum can fix but it can do a job on PH. With no fish, you don't have as much to worry about. Check all of the posts under the Muddy Water heading with some emphasis on Bill Morris's recent fish kill. Also, as Cecil said, get the grass going. Also, throw brush or rocks or something in the gullies that I assume are being created in the dam.

Thanks for the tips guys! The water is turbid due to a couple weeks of good rain. I have a good stand of grass growning on the top and back sides of the dam. I will have to resort to Cecil's burlap technique as the inside slopes of the dam are nothing but clay/shale and the seed did not take in these areas. I'll probably have to haul in topsoil to dress out the exposed areas above the final water level. Any more tips would be greatly appreciated!

Patrick

Burlap! That is a good idea! I just heavily seeded my spillway because the contractor had had some negative experiences with using rip rap (washes dirt out from underneath rip rap so continually sinks) and so he recommended against it.

Now I'm thinking that I should have put burlap in the spillway, sowed it, and had the grass seed sprout through it to help hold the soil. Would that have worked?

We planted a wild game mix that had lots of oat seed in it all around our new pond. Added extra oat seed as well. Oats have a very deep root that binds the soil nicely. As an added bonus the deer love to graze on it. Our newly piped spillway stood up fine to the hurricane that we had this summer even though it was only 2 weeks in place when the storm hit. Had a wild river running through our 24 inch spill way and it held fine thanks to the oats.