Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Newby and have questions.

I live in deep South Texas where the droughts are tough. A pipeline crew passed through our place and did some work for us. They cleaned and deepened the pond already in the property. The pond hasn't held water in a couple of years. When it does rain, our pond would usually fill with water and a couple of weeks later it would completely drain. It could have been a leak issue but my biggest concern is the red soil. Most of the property is red dirt and no clay on the property.

My concern is should the soil raise a flag or will it hold water if compacted?

Here are a few pics of the soil being worked on the pond.







This will be used for wildlife and hopefully stocking fish.
Any and all info would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forum!

Read this thread http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=229563 and do some of the tests that were listed. That should give you a good idea of what to expect.

Thanks esshup. I will try some of those test and hopefully get good results.

Proper soil to hold water is imperative. That's usually clay or at least 45% clay. Is there a reason for leaving the trees in the impoundment? Or am I looking at it wrong?

The trees need to go. Be sure the soils are clay-based. Much of Webb county has good clay beneath the topsoil and rock. You've got to find the clay. It would be a good idea to line the entire bottom with clay. I've seen quite a few ponds around Webb County leak because they were improperly built. If you leave the trees in the ground, they can be an avenue for water to escape downward. Push them out and then place them, after the pond is finished, as fish structure if you want.
Be sure the pond is deep enough to withstand drought. I've seen ponds rise and fall 8-10 feet per year there. Be sure the pond is 16-20 feet deep (or deeper if you can).
Be sure to size it according to the watershed. In that part of Texas, 15-20 acres of watershed supports a surface acre of pond.

We dug several test holes around the property but did not find any clay, that is why we decided to dig out the original pond that was in the property. Is this means to line the walls in order to keep water from being absorbed by the bed?
Trees were kept in place for structure but if they will cause a bigger issue with water escaping then they will have to go.
The pond is about 15' deep and about a 1/2 acre.
As mentioned, I am new at pond building so the info given to me by members of this forum is what I am taking into consideration to continue building this pond.

As Lusk said, get rid of the trees and, if possible, any roots that will protrude into the bottom. The roots will rot and cause a void that will be a leak.

Without clay, you will have to haul some in and line with it.

You might run into clay by digging deeper. Dig some test holes when you hit the 15' deep mark to see if there is clay down deeper.

No. 15' was as far as we dug on the original pond that was already on the property. Test holes were at various depths.