Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Identifying Cause of H20 loss

I'm trying to solve a water loss problem at an 8 acre "duck marsh" that is seasonally flooded. I took over the task of managing the shallow water impoundment and would appreciate any and all ideas that might be helpful in fixing the water leakage problem.

The impoundment is a dry agriculture field during most of the year and is flooded in October to create a flooded marsh for waterfowl hunting. It is located near Wichita, Kansas, and is within 5 miles of the Arkansas River. I don't have any information regarding the original dike construction. A small pond was built next to the marsh and doesn't hold water either.
The soil is sandy, but becomes very "gooey", sticky mud when wet.

I turned the well pump on October 20 and let it run 24/7. The water level increased for the first week, but began receding the second week. The water level is now very low and it appears to still be losing water despite the pump running non-stop. At best, only 1/3 of the marsh had surface water.

I've outlined the marsh in blue, the dry creek in orange, and the field drainage waterway in purple.


Shot at 2007-10-31

There is no obvious leak on the backside of the dike.


What should I do to identify the cause of water loss?

Areas that have been dry absorb a tremendous amount of water before they are fully saturated. I'm thinking that a 1 acre foot "marsh" could take 2 or 3 acre feet to finally fill it up. However, 2 weeks sounds long enough to have saturated the ground pretty well. You may have a leak, but it may not be as bad as it seems once everything is fully saturated. Good luck!

Can you give us more history on the site? Has it always done this or is this the 1st year.

if you have silt dominant soils they can be gooey like clay but they will continue to transmit the water after being saturated. you wouldnt necessarily "see" a leak in the dike/levee, but the water is transmitted down into the water table.

Thanks for all the replies, guys! Let me start this story over.......

A "friend of a friend" owns the land and built both the marsh dike and a small fishing pond some years ago (~10 years). The marsh and pond have always had water loss problems and neither have held water in the last few years. The landowner lost interest in the project and no longer waterfowl hunts. He did try bentonite patch before, but I don't know any details beyond that (other than it didn't work).


There are numerous shallow water impoundments that are seasonally flooded for waterfowl in this area, so I'm hopeful this problem can be solved.

What/where should I start?
1. identify soil composition
2. get NRCS involved
3. have a local heavy equipment expert review the situation
4. find out who and how the dike was originally built
5. ???

Thanks again for the knowledge!

Here's info from the NRCS Web Soil Survey

Soil Map Unit Description:
5831 - Punkin Silt Loam, 0-1 percent slope
Depth to Water table: more than 80 inches
Capacity of the most limiting layer to transmit water (Ksat):low to moderately low
Drainage Class: Moderately well drained
Depth to restrictive features: 80 inches

Suitabilities and Limitations of Use -- Embankments, Dikes, and Levees
Rating: Very Limited
Ratings Reason: Hard to pack (1.0)
Piping (1.0)
Salinity (0.13)
Seepage (0.07)

Suitabilities and Limitations of Use --Pond Reservior Areas
Ratings: Not Limited



Shot at 2007-11-01

I'm with D.I.E.D. on this. Appears to be soil that seeps badly to me. Sounds like a case for the product called ES 20 or whatever it's called.

It is ESS 13.

I knew it was something like that.

For my sake, I hope you guys are wrong. Could the problem be lack of soil compaction?

strmchzr, i hope so too. but from yer descriptions and info from soil survey, it does not look promising that you can just use native soils and get a sufficient seal to hold a pond at full pool year round. however another option: if you have shallow groundwater (yer info states less than 80") and there are no permitting issues, sounds like you could possibly dig a water table pond rather than try and artificially seal a pond above the water table....just a thought.