Greetings all!
I've been lurking and reading. This is a fantastic site, and what a great bunch of helpful folks there are around here.
I was hoping you might be able to spread some of that knowledge this way...
I presently live in Tennessee, but have accepted an emergency medicine position in the St. Joseph, Missouri area and we'll be relocating there in the next few months. We're house-hunting as we speak, so I thought now might be a good time to ask a few questions about pond building and so forth...
I see there are a few folks from Missouri on the forums here who have built ponds, and their posts have been most helpful. If they happen to read these posts, I'd love to hear their input. But I'd love to hear EVERYONE'S input.
This home is going to be our "forever" home, so I want it to be right. We're going to purchasing 40 to 60 acres or so, and we'd like to have a large pond...like to the tune of 8 to 12 acres. Large enough for a wide variety of recreational activities.
As I understand from reading some of the other posts here, the Missouri Dept of Conservation can prove an invaluable resource in pond construction, and I'd love to hear, specifically, how I can utilize them (re: consulting expertise, construction assistance, management, etc.). I'd also like to hear what the limitations of their assistance are, and what I should watch out for or avoid.
Is there any advice anyone can give me regarding picking out a good spot for such a pond? I'm sure, given the size of this pond, that the lay of the land is an essential element. I was kind of wondering if I were to pick out some crop land that was in a rolling hills area without a lot of timber, if that might be a good site (I certainly realize that a pond of this scope must have a good inflow of water as well as a good outlet should all hell break loose...my downstream neighbors would be most appreciative of proper planning, I imagine).
So if I were to find such a spot, with little timber, would that make it much more cost effective with regard to grading for the pond? And somebody mentioned (sorry, don't recall who), that the MO Dept. of Conservation will also plant trees at their expense? So would it be possible for them to plant trees in the area around the pond (not immediately adjacent to...but in the area surrounding..)?
Any other advice regarding stocking, management would be most appreciated. It might seem a bit premature to some for me to be asking these questions, but I'm a firm believer in the old addage "...an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Might as well get my thinking straight before I even buy the land the pond will be on.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I appreciate your feedback and the great forum!
Best regards,
Mac
