Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Pond Builder - Central NY State

Hi folks -

New member in early stages of pond planning for my property in Broome County, NY. I have 140 acres near Whitney Point, which is roughly 20 mins north of Binghamton.

I have a pond site targeted and have decided to keep the size to about 3/4 acre to avoid too much red tape from big brother. I think the location will offer adequate runoff to support the pond, and based on soil types know I hope to be able to construct a water tight basin.

The challenge I'm having is identifying a contractor that services this area with experience building good ponds. I'm sure I can find excavators that will claim to be able to do it, but would rather hook up with someone with actual experience that is well versed in the proper construction techniques.

Happy to provide more info about my property and general situation, but hoping some fellow members can help identify a few candidates to contract for the build.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to Pond Boss!!

You are on the right path by taking the time to select a contractor who knows exactly what they are doing.

Let's see if anyone can point you in the right direction.

Welcome Todynot!

Do you know any of your neighbors that have ponds on their properties?

Asking them about who built their pond can provide valuable information ... whether it was a good builder, or a crap builder.

Further, pond builders are also risk averse. However, if the contractor built a nice and easy pond nearby, then he would probably feel more comfortable giving you a reasonable bid in the same area.

Good luck on your pond build project!

Thanks guys.

I have inquired with neighbors and that may bear fruit, but still TBD. I also received a referral from an excavation contractor I called, who actually hired out his own pond builds to some guy. I'm planning to have him out to for a site visit in the coming weeks.

I've been doing some reading and gathered the "text book" way to construct a pond involves the application of certain steps/techniques that may not be applied by all. I suspect you can have a good pond built without implementing a core trench or using a sheepsfoot compactor, for example, but wouldn't doing it that way provide best odds of success? I'm looking for a professional, not someone who does it his way and it seems to work.

There are some books available from Pond Boss about building ponds/dams, and for the money, you could save a lot in the long run.

A well built pond will be a joy for many, many decades, whereas a poorly built pond will be a money-hole and eye sore on a daily basis until you die (and that just means you don't have to look at it anymore; it'll still suck for your heirs).

The "text book" way includes all of the important elements needed to create a pond that holds water.

The reason there is no universal recipe, is that conditions on the ground are highly variable. The sub-soil materials probably matter the most, but other factors such as presence of groundwater, slope of the land, watershed drainage area, average rainfall, etc. also have a huge impact on how the pond will be constructed.