Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Measuring Watershed

Hello,

I'm planning on building a sport fishing pond on a 10 acre property in MO. In my area in MO, the MO Department of Conservation states that a 10:1 watershed to pond area ratio is needed. I've had a couple different contractors visit the site and provide estimates and I've been told the land will only support a .5 acre pond all the way up to a 1.5 acre pond. I now do not know which direction to turn as I don't want to build too small and I don't want to build too large...both are a waste of money.

Is there anyone that can assist in measuring watershed area?

Thanks for you assistance,
Pete

Go to this site. It will help you figure out how big your watershed is.

www.acme.com/planimeter

I'm not sure how to utilize this tool. How would I even know where to put points on the map to determine the area?

Turn on the Topo layer, and then envision you dam and everything "upstream". This means you have to use some judgement in what will run into the pond basin, and what will run away from it. Draw an outline across this threshold, and you will get a reasonable answer.

Just went through this with Missouri USDA pond expert.
He told me the same 10:1 ratio on building the pond.
I've got a little over 9 acres for our proposed 1.5 AC pond.
That big rain (4") we had a little over a week ago put 5' into it. Still has 12' to go, and it of course expands quite a bit as it fills. I feel better about getting it filled though.
Every person that's come out to see it, work on it, etc. says it'll fill easy.
I think they (govt pond experts) have pretty conservative formulas, for calculating fill capability.
I've got good slope on all the ground heading to the pond, so I'm figuring I get a bit better run off than 10 gradual sloping acres covered with grass.
Are you building it in the woods, or in a field? I was told there's dollars available to help, if it's in a field. Erosion control. Ours is in the woods. No $$ help from Uncle Sam.
Good luck. It sure turned out to be more stressful than I thought it would. Not over yet either. We ran into lots of rock during construction. Almost gave up. At $250/hr for equipment you can drop a lot of money pretty quickly. (I'm still not sure it'll hold water.)

I've talked with a couple other contractors and MDC and I've decided that I'm going to build a terrace to funnel water so that I can get 1 acre. If that doesn't give the pond enough, then I will build another on the other side of the property to funnel the water flowing in the ditch next to the road down to the pond. There is significant runoff in the ditch but it drains to an area that shed away from the pond area. This should do the trick.