Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Building a Waterski Lake - Many Questions

I am new to this site and by stating that my primary desire for a pond is for watersports, some of you may prefer that I not belong. However, conserving the environment and water quality is also dear to my heart so I hope you will accept and help me. I have had a dream for some time, which is to live on my own private waterski lake. Granted I know this will likely be well beyond my personal budget but I also have others who are interested in sharing this dream. I am sure that I will have many more questions along the way but for now, I will start here:

I don’t currently own the land. So needless to say, the first step that I have to make is buying the land. However, I would hate to spend a significant sum of money buying land to start the project if it is doomed due other issues such as: not enough water run off to keep the lake full, too much seepage, denied permits / permission to build the lake. Therefore, I am looking to this site to understand the likelihood of overcoming the many obstacles prior to talking to land owners and local authorities about such a project.

I can target 3 main land types. I have spent a fair bit of time driving around and looking at topographical maps, which has narrowed my search somewhat. My options are:

1)Flat farmland. There is plenty of this around central Illinois. The problem clearly is getting enough water to run into the lake to keep it full. The best sites that I have found are on 40 acres parcels but since the land is so flat unless I slope the excavated material into the lake no water really runs into the lake. From what I have read in the USDA Ponds - Planning, Design, & Construction Manual one needs 5 acre feet of watershed in my area. For a 14 acre pond (2600’ x 230’) that averages 10' deep, one would need 700 acres of watershed to keep the pond full (14 acres times 10 feet = 140 acre feet times 5 acres)! Does anyone have successful experience with significantly less watershed area than USDA recommends? Annual rainfall this area of IL averages 36”/year and according to a couple of studies that I have read, evaporation averages 35”/year in IL as well. I have yet to figure out how much seepage to plan for. What I have found interesting is I have noticed several ponds in Illinois with little if any watershed beyond their own surface area that seem to stay nearly full all year long and some how continue to be over full every spring. Finding a site with 700 acres of watershed is nearly impossible unless you dam up a flowing creek/river and I doubt the government will allow that. The 700 acres do not seem to add up with observations unless each of these ponds along the highways are spring fed or something???

2)Lowlands next to a creek. There are 2 main sites that I can target that have the dimensions that I would require. They would have a slightly less problem of keeping the pond full than flat farm land (probably about 80 acres of heavily sloped and wooded watershed could be easily directed to the pond) but some of the land is in a flood plain. My thought was to build a 2700’ long berm along one side to keep the spring flood waters out of the lake rather than allowing the flood waters (and any branches or debris it carries) to fill the lake each spring. I certainly don’t want to hit branches that have been carried in from the flood. The berm would also reduce the amount of excavation required but may create permitting issues. In addition, this is relatively sandy soil so sealing the pond would be an issue. I don’t have this one figured out yet. Since I don’t own the land, test holes are obviously a problem but Illinois Soil information calls it Sarpy Loamy Sand (I have a lot of info on the soil and it doesn’t hold water well).

3)Pasture land that is cut through by a naturally eroded ditch. When looking at contour lines this looks like a great site to significantly reduce the required excavation. It seems that it is almost made for building a lake to my dimensions. This ditch only carries water during rains but quickly dries up once the runoff from about 400 acres of land that empties through this location. Obviously the main problem would be silting since most of the watershed to this area is cropland. If I interpreted the Illinois NRCS calculations correctly, the silt would fill in at a rate of about 0.5”/year. Since the silt would be more of an issue near the inlet, this likely would require periodic digging (every 5 - 10 years?) to maintain the depth of the pond. Rental of a long reach excavator might have to be in the ongoing budget.

I guess my first couple of questions are:

1)If given the choice, which one of the 3 above properties would you target and why? Are there any that are obviously not a viable option? What other major issues do I need to think about that are specific to one of these sites?

2)What work should I do prior to contacting the landowners about selling the land? I clearly don’t want to do this until I am relatively certain that if I buy the land, we can complete the lake project.

3)Should I contact NRCS and county agencies about this as a potential project without owning the land? Obviously, I don’t want to buy the land and then find out that they won’t permit me to do the project.

4)Should I contact local contractors / gravel pits that may want the dirt or wait until I buy the land? All 3 sites may have fill that might be of value to local builders / land developers so I certainly will explore that option when the time comes.

5)If w can’t trade dirt to a contractor in exchange for free digging then is it reasonable buy a couple of tow pan scrapers and hire a couple of operators (who incidentally are family) for this type of project or would a professionally designed lake and contractor be the only way to go? I have calculated it would take 9,000 passes and just under 1,000 hrs with a 34 yd scraper to dig the lake. If a dam was required, I would hire professionals for that but just moving dirt is a lot cheaper if done without the contractor markup.

6)What other suggestions to improve the chances of being able to obtain the land and required permits do you have? Farmers may not want to sell a portion of their land and regulatory agencies are much less likely to permit a ski lake rather than a pond. However, I am an honest person and would want to tell people my intensions with the land rather than obtaining a permit for a fish pond or agricultural pond and then skiing on the lake.

Thank you all for any help that you can lend to my dream. I either need to pursue this dream or find another dream. I have kept it in the back of my head for too long now.