Does anyone have a suggestion of possible ways to close up this dam?...taking into consideration of stopping or diverting a permanent small stream. For those who haven't read the earlier rambling posts of mine, in a nutshell I plan to extend, widen, and deepen the current area. A mini backhoe FEL combo is probably going to be the equipment of choice. The goal is for a small BG setup for my children.
Are you going to be able to bring in heavy equipment to dig out and compact the soil for your pond? Cannot tell the access from the pictures.
Also, have you been measuring the water change with heavy rainfall? I don't know how long you've been scouting that spot. Always good to know the fluctuation levels.
Basslover: Thanks for the replies. Honestly, I literally laughed out loud from your one the other day about "looks like a breeding ground for mosquitoes." No offense taken, that is true at the moment, I hope to fix that before mosquito season, which here is basically March-November.
Getting equipment to the area is possible once things dry out. I'm very curious as to how much water is below the muck in the low lying area that was once a tiny little pond of some sort.
Regarding flow and fluctuation, I've only been here since August, and I don't really have true scientific measurement, but I have gauged it at roughly 30 GPM on average flow of the stream. My measurements might rival Mr. Darling in the Andy Griffith episode saying it takes "11 hatfuls" to fill his radiator. And heavy events I really have no way to accurately measure in the as runoff rushes down the stream. Any suggestions on how to measure more accurately?...other than just eyeballing so to speak.
Here's a pic of water coming over the dam during our heavy/steady rain back on Christmas if that helps. This pic was taken before I removed the barrels, but there was about a foot wide gap top to bottom in the dam at the time.
Reason I ask 'bout water flow, especially during "rain events", is because you want to know what may wash into your pond - any fish up from you? Any chemicals? Any fields/fertilizers? Etc.
More than one has spent resources (time and money at the least) in building a pond only to have it not go as planned from "upstream" washes.
It _looks_ like a low lying area that is frequently wet when you have rain. For grins you should check that spot out on Google Earth or equivalent and learn if any pics taken have ever captured water standing there.
Let's say you can dig 6-8 feet deep in the area you've marked off in blue. That should be enough water for something to call home. Depending on water quality, bluegill, catfish, etc.
Basslover: The stream that enters my property is gin clear unless it is a substantial rain, then it turns the orange/brown color you see in the pic. I know color isn't the only key, but from what I can tell, the stream enters my property from a confluence of several things; my neighbor's pond behind me, a spring at the base of the ridge about a 1/2 mile behind me, and a drainage ditch from 2 other neighbors behind me on the other side. Assuming they aren't dumping anything toxic into their drainage ditches, other than some oil dripping from a car, I think it most of it is fairly benign. I don't plan to eat any fish I stock, but I do plan to regularly have the water tested, once I do have it impounded. The neighbor with the pond behind me, it is a very old farm pond. He has 5 head of cattle that occasionally graze near it, so that might be a small issue. Because of the way it was designed, I can't be sure, but I think it's unlikely much of his fish would wash down. He has LMB, BG, CC. I'm perfectly fine if any of those do wash in. I've looked at as many maps I could find. The tree cover keeps you from really being able to tell about previous water retained. Any link you know of to access older than about 5 year old satellite imagery? Thanks again for your replies.
Haven't done a ton, but I did get to go down and put a couple hours work in lately. Widened it a little bit, and got some small trees cut, rocks into the hole in my dam to at least slow down washing out of the part that's hard clay/gravel bottom. Can't wait to get some equipment down to see what I can what I can get my puddle size up to.
Depending on water quality, bluegill, catfish, etc.
