About 30+ years ago I had a 1.5 acre pond built on my place in western NC. The Soil Conservation Service agent I consulted designed the pond, and closely watched and supervised the construction, which was done by a commercial contractor. Everything was done according to the best standards of the time, and the result was a beautiful pond, which is still beautiful. Recently I began to have an itch to build a second pond, so of course I called the NC SCS again. They tell me that now they no longer provide this service, because of concerns about liability issues. My question to this forum, therefore, is - where to get the best professional advice, help with design, and construction supervision, to build a pond in WNC in 2009-2010? Is there another state or federal agency that might help, or are there private consultants, perhaps like a civil engineer? Thanks for any help or advice on this topic.
David Larson
David:
Welcome to the forum. Most of the regulars here are at the PB Conference in Missouri, and should be back on here by Wed or so, (travel time). There are private consultants, and once everybody is back, I'd say you can get almost all the help that you'll need here. If you can hold on for a few days the answers will start pouring in.
To get the ball rolling, what type of fish are you looking to put in the pond, and what are your goals for the 2nd pond?
esshup -
I filled in some of the blanks in my profile.
My place is a 75-acre mostly wooded tract in western North Carolina, rural, at an elevation of about 2750 feet. Some of it is nearly pure eastern white pine, and most of it is mixed hardwoods, not logged for at least 40 years. No more than 2-3 acres total is cleared, and kept mowed; the rest is wooded, the trees pretty much doing their own thing. There is the 1.5 acre pond I mentioned. About 0.5 miles of one boundary of the property is along the North Toe River. Another 0.5 miles of the boundary is a small but year-round stream.
There is an area about 1.5-2 acres, close to our house, and at 3 AM 2 weeks ago I was awakened by the sudden idea that it might be a good site for another pond. The land is mostly clayey. The place seems naturally scooped out, in a way that might naturally be dammed off to make an excavated pond. There is no spring or creek there, but there is a watershed above it. It is also right next to the drilled well we use for domestic water, so that might be one source of water for the pond.
I am contemplating a 1-2 acre pond, with a dock at one end. It would be used for recreation, swimming, boating, and fishing. The fish in our present pond include large-mouth bass, blue-gills, channel catfish, and hybrid triploid grass carp, and this combination seems to thrive, so I'd use the same stocking plan in the second pond. I don't have any livestock to water, yet, but I am on the board of the local volunteer fire department, and realize the need for water for neighborhood fire protection, so I would install a dry hydrant for community use.
Anyway, right now this second pond is only in the planning, or even pre-planning stage, but I would be very interested in any ideas or thoughts you have, as well as reports of actual experiences others have had along these lines. Many thanks.
David
David:
If it will be a dug pond, is the water table high enough, or will you be relying on runoff from the watershed above the pond? If relying on watershed runoff, do you know how many acres will be "feeding" it? How deep do you plan on making it?
Will you be aerating the pond, and will you be supplemental feeding?
The PB Conference is over, and the experts should start to chime in pretty soon.
We'll get you taken care of!!
Have you considered a different stocking plan to offer a different fishing experience? If not different species in the new pond (they may swim between ponds eventually) maybe concentrate on one species but grow them as large as possible? Having different fisheries on the same property seems like a pretty incredible experience.
Welcome to the forum, im no expert but there's plenty on here
Bump for new pond planning/design/construction/stocking assistance for David in NC.
OUCH Theo...That bump hurt!
Hello David,
I used to live in Burnsville, NC. What part of WNC are you? I have a contractor in Boone that travels up to 4-states away and I'm sure he would be happy to have a contract close to home.
He has been building ponds for over 30-years and is a retired Army Corps Engineer doing pond construction.
**I just told him about Pond Boss about a week ago. My fault that he was unable to attend**
Feel free to call me and I can put you in touch with him. Since he is not a member or a resource yet, I don't want to advertise for him here.
I will be in Burnsville on Friday. If you are not far from the Asheville area, I wouldn't mind stopping by and discussing your project with you.
Cary -
I live in Spruce Pine, which is about 17 miles due east from Burnsville, and will be home all day Friday - maybe we should try to get together that day.
In the world of Pond Boss jargon, what is a bump?
David/Tomte
Bump = bringing a thread back to the top of the list, hoping someone pertinent (e.g. Cary) who missed it before sees it this time.
Known in Chicago as TTT (to the top).
David,
Absolutely! Know Spruce Pine very well. I used to go to the Hockey Games at Pine Bridge and Mom used to work at the Hospital.
email me your phone number and address and I'll give you a call Friday Morning to let you know what time to expect me.
cary.martin@aquacontrol.com