Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam New pond pics and a question in regard loss.

Hello all, found this site using google and have loved looking at pics, reading and learning. Great stuff, thank you.

I am new to ponds/lakes and know next to nothing. Ours is newly built and right after we finished it, the recent St Louis area flooding record rains hit, it filled (about 6" from spillway) in 2.5 days. I was home, it was a sight to see it fill so fast, could almost watch the water go up like a bathtub.

Since it filled as of 12/28/15 and now on 01/01/15 it is down 7-8" as marked by a tree I marked to watch water height. So, it's loosing between 1.5"-2" per day. The last pic is from last Saturday (one week ago) as the rain was starting.

I am wondering it that's normal water loss? Thanks for any advice.

Mine did the same thing when it first filled about six weeks ago, and the up and down is continuing. I am hoping it is all initial absorption into the surrounding soil to the saturation point. Hopefully yours is that absorption and not a leak.

Welcome to the forum, LakeNew!!!

Have you seeded the bare areas yet? I see there was no structure in the pond for fish to have cover for fry, provide ambush/fishing areas, or promote spawning. What are your goals for the pond? Given thought to any stocking plan?

The early loss COULD be surrounding areas saturating. How was the Dam "compacted"...with heavy equipment tracks, or a sheepsfoot?

I also don't see a drain, or low spot for an emergency spillway in your pictures.....How is the overflow handled?

I'm in Maryland Heights...not far from you at all!

Very nice setting! Get the disturbed areas seeded asap, or you may be calling me to clear a permanently muddy pond! lol

Thank you.

1. We left a lot of stumps and cover spot starting back 100' from the dam
2. Stock with catfish and Bluegill someday
3. No seed, but in the spring he is going to come back and finish all the areas and sew grass along with my father in law
4. Dam has a 15' deep core trench packed with clay, the entire dam is clay, the deep part of the pond is clay. Just packed it with a large dozer and a large track hoe.

Looking at it today, I'd say it's more like 1 foot down in one week. Seems like a lot.

There's no doubt that the soil is soaking up a lot of water. You'll find that pretty common if you look through this site a bit. You really won't know what going on with it for quite awhile, most likely. Does it freeze where you are? The thought of a few months of that being open, unfrozen, would concern me. A covering of rye wouldn't take much time or money.

Hey LakeNew,
It's a great forum. There's lots of good information, and knowledgeable guys around.
I've received a lot of help. Spunds like you've got lots of clay, and the construction principles. I had poor clay with a lot of rock, so I'm fighting a leak or two.
I've heard filling up too fast can be a problem, but I'm not sure why. I did have the sheepsfoot roller pack the clay in my pond. That may cause you a problem, but not necessarily. There's a lot of good ponds around that were only packed with a dozer.
I'll let the experts respond, RainMan already has..
I just wanted to say welcome to the forum from another Missouri guy.

Jeff

It does freeze, right now about half froze. Is the concern about covering in due to soil erosion?

Thnx for the replies!

Our pond was only packed with the dozer and high hoe. We have some of the best clay any one can ask for. It still took 3 years for the banks to pack and seal up. After the second year we saw some 6-8" dips that were not there the first year.

One a windy day I can loose 1" easy just in evaporation too.

Great pictures. What a wonderful job you had done there. Every day its going to get better and better.

Cheers Don.

Yes, erosion is a big problem. An amazing amount of soil will wash into the pond during a significant rain event without provisions for erosion control.

What he said.

I see no downside to spreading winter wheat at this time. Even clay erodes.

When compared to a sheepsfoot roller, a dozer does a poor job of packing soil for a dam.