Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Rock Quarry Lake

Anyone know anything about turning a rock quarry into a lake? There is some land that I was looking at that has been a rock quarry in the past. Now it is just a big hole in the ground with some shallow water in the bottom. Is it just a matter of digging a deep enough hole so you are below the water table and it just fills or do they need to be sealed some way. Do you need to keep pumping water into them? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

How long has it been sitting dormant? I would have to guess that chances are if it's generally empty now, it's probably unlikely to hold water unless it just hasn't gotten sufficient water to fill it yet. Digging to a spring or the water table is a two-sided proposition - while the water table is high or the spring is running, things could be okay. But as soon as the water table drops or the spring stops running, the inflow is now an exit and you'll lose water. More info on the age of the quarry, how long it's been abandoned, how deep, bottom composition, etc. would probably be helpful to generate more ideas for you.

The one rock quarry lake I know of seems to have diverted water flow from a near by stream via a pipe and filled it that way. I don't know many details on it though as it is closed to the public and I only go there when the owners complain about people trespassing. The steam isn't overly big but it does seem to produce a fairly steady flow of water into the lake.

You might look for a drain out of the quarry.
If possible quarry's have an opening dug out to let any water gravity flow out.
And sometimes plugging this hole will result in the quarry filling.