Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New property with a leaky pond need some help

My wife and I bought a farm we plan on retiring on it's 41 acres with a 1.5 acre pond/lake when it is full and an acre when it is down. The pond is 30 years old, when we purchased the property it must of had 100 trees growing on the dam and the backside, we knew it leaked a little because it was a couple of feet below the drainage pipe in April. First thing we did was remove all the trees off the dam with an excavator, that was a fun project we were hoping that it would slow the leak or potentially point us into the right direction now that we can see things but it didn't. About the beginning of August we had 8 inches of rain in 3 days and the lake filled up all the way to the drainage pipe it was so cool. THe lake looked gorgeous, we had never seen it full so we now know what it looks like full and it is amazing, At the deepest point it is 13 ft deep. There are 3 leaks that I can tell one on the left side that stops when the water level gets down a couple of feet below the pipe and then there are a couple directly behind the dam close to the drainage pipe and a bigger one off to the right that appears to be the main source. We can't tell if water is seeping through the dam or if it is going out the bottom somewhere. I was thinking that bentonite might work on the left side since it stops at a certain level but I am really unsure how to proceed with the main leak, We don't want to drain it because it has been stocked for 30 years with some large bass . The pond is relatively clean the aquatic vegetation is around the edges on the bottom. I think the grass carp do a pretty good job keeping the surface clean. There is a local excavator that has an approach of chasing the leak, he still hasn't explained it to me completely but sounds like he brings in a track hoe and digs until he determines where the water is coming from. I'm cool with that but he stays so busy I can never get him to come out. We have looked at the polymer sealers but I am not sure if they would work through the vegetation and how harmful they would be to the fish. One thing is for sure we would like to get it fixed, It is down about 3 feet below the pipe in less than a month which really stinks. We have had a pretty wet summer so I don't know if it reaches a point were it stops leaking. We are in a dry spell right now and are losing several inches a day so in about a week we might come close to being at the lowest level we have been at since purchasing it. I'm open to all advice. Thanks for taking the time to read this

Sincerely,
Brian

Others can give you better advice than I can, but I have one observation.

If the pond leaks down to a certain level, then stops leaking, that is a lot better than if it is leaking out the bottom and just keeps going down.

If it stops at a certain level, you might have the chance to pump it down to slightly below that level and have the excavator repair the problem areas without loosing all your fish. As long as you do not do the repairs in the heat of the summer the fish can likely live temporarily in the reduced level water.

Others can better tell you about other options.

Hi Brian:

I've worked on about 80 leaking pond projects over the past 18 months happy to help review possible solutions for your leak issues. Excavation, liners, polymers are all options - just depends on your budget and nature of the leak, soils, age of pond, etc.

Feel free to ping me anytime - happy to help my Pond Boss family. Leaks are horrible to deal with.

TJ

tj@hudlandmgmt.com

thank you all for the advice, TJ I will send you an email