The NRCS 590 pond planning, design booklet p.10 and 11 of the booklet or pages 21 and 22 of Adobe reader will tell you just what you are wanting to know. I tried to highlight and copy but could not. I do not know how to attach the doc. on a reply post here. Sorry. If you google NCRS 590 planning design booklet the site will come up but may not work due to the GOV shutdown. Good luck.
Thanks again for all of your information RAH, Yeah I do wish I had more as it would seem an obvious benefit. I found this information - "A guide for estimating the approximate size of a drainage area (in acres) required for each acre-foot of storage in an embankment or excavated pond"
If I read that correctly it shows a broad swath of Indiana in a 3-5 suggested ratio. But I am also sure that I have read that suggested rations are much higher as you suggest. Reconsidering my previous runoff perimeter at best I still only have 4-5:1 Looking forward to talking with my contractor again soon.
I don't know if you are still following sprkplug but I wonder what your ratio may be as I am just about 25 miles or so east of you.
I've got a client that needs to renovate his leaky pond, and is waiting for the NRCS to come back to work before proceeding, so I feel your pain.
It might all depend on soil composition (clay or sand) amount of vegetation in the runoff area, how fast the rain comes (1" over 24 hrs or 10 minutes) and probably some other variables.
Pond construction is underway. These pics represent some of the initial clearing of trees and stripping of topsoil. I would be interested/willing to post images of the progress. Sorry if this is obvious but should I start a new thread in another forum or just stick to this one?
Exciting times for sure! Sorry I missed your earlier post Jammer, in regards to surface ratio in the watershed. All of our ponds are the result of damming across existing ravines, and as such they tend to have considerable area that slopes downward and drains into them. But, even with that, there are a couple that just tend to accumulate runoff better than the others.
As far as actual surface area? Hard to tell, as there's not hardly a flat spot on the place. If I were pressed for an answer, I would estimate that 40-45 acres drains into our ponds, which are at three different elevations.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
thanks for that info sprkplug. not exactly what i was hoping to hear though, ha Do you get a lot of water movement through your ponds during heavy rains?
I am attaching a topo map of the area around my pond in the hopes that maybe someone with some more expertise could give a rough estimate of runoff area. I come up with about 5 acres or so...
Construction is nearing completion and the final size looks to be more in the 1.6 acre range. If runoff is insufficient to keep it fill it I think my next best option may be to pull some water from a stream that is about 200 or so feet away.
Yellow lines represent road (and ditches). Backside of dam is approximately 270-300 feet for scale.
I have some updates to this project that I have been meaning to send for a while. All was essentially completed in late November, just prior to a heavy rain event in the area. That contributed to the water contents shown in the photos. These were taken in late November. The depth of area filled in the photo is approximately 3-4 feet. Total depth should be 18-20 feet. Submerged and not visible is a 3" drain in a bed of gravel. The entire pond if full is approximately 1.5 acres. I was encouraged by how much water came in after the first storm since the rainfall was not that substantial but it was in a short intense burst so I expect there was a lot of direct runoff. Not to mention the area filled is rather small as well.
There also appear to be several slow seeps coming from the shallow side (uphill)of the pond contributing a very small amount that I observed.
The most recent storm in the area has apparently dumped over 5" of rain on top of several inches of snow melt. Unfortunately I have not yet seen how much this recent event added to the overall level. My anticipation is high to say the least and hope to remedy this soon with some photos from relatives...
On the negative side I am hoping the late seeding had enough growth time to be able hold things together as I had some ruts develop from the earlier storm. Seed and bedding was added a week or two after these photos.
your pond looks great. i cant wait for my new pond to be complete. with my very limited knowledge, i would think your stumps are too deep for fish attractors unless you aerate.
Thanks I agree about the stumps being too deep. That is where they ended up when I was away. Been thinking maybe I could maybe put a grapple on them later to pull them to shallower water or maybe not.
Hi Steve, I just joined this forum and I had 2 ponds constructed on my property in 2002. I have learned the hard but enjoyable way that you will spend more time there than you now anticipate. Looks like a great place for a pond. I am near Jasper, IN.
I have plans to reclaim my largest pond of 1 acre. I will be daring it this spring in order to hire a company to do a complete fish kill so I can get a new start on the fish stocking. A friend of mine likes to fish for channel cats on the Ohio river and he asked if he could put some in my pond. I said he could put them in the small (0.25ac) pond up the hill in the woods but he made a major error and put them in my 1ac pond. That 1 acre pond WAS a great bluegill and largemouth bass fishery. But, after a few years the bass were all about 11" long and the bluegill were either very large or eaten by the cats.
CAUTION! Get many professional opinions about fish stocking!
Another error I made was letting my dozer operator pull out before I wanted him to. He was busy and just had to go but I was hoping for him to create some underwater structure like humps, shelves, etc.
My advise is to not rush anything during construction and to consult professionals who do not sell fish.
AMJR, another Hoosier is always good news. Where are you located? Your caution is good but the opinions are best from well experienced pond owners. Professionals (fish suppliers) often give advice that benefits them more that the pond owner.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
