Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but it is more current than the other one listed so here goes:
For those of you not familiar, I have a roughly 3 acre pound in its 2nd spring (dug in Aug. 2007). It filled to within, let’s say 4’ of pool (based on level at the levee end), last spring (2008). Naturally, I lost a bit of water this past summer and since I do not have adequate runoff, and we have not had the 3-4” gully washers of 2008, it has never regained its former glory. We have had some recent rain, including today and forecasted over the next day and ½. I have been losing water to evaporation, intensified by heavy winds also. Having said all that, here is the issue:
In the center of my levee, at the base, on my neighbors property (just a few feet away), there is standing water that I have never noticed. Now, I have to interject that this is the lower end of the draw that I damned up. The water is not flowing, but is stagnant. It could be from rains of late, but the perplexing part is that the ground is “mushy” in an area about 3 linear feet. The ground to either side of this spot is much more firm. A drier period, say summer will tell the tale, but I am worried that I have a serious problem, weighing the decreased water level and all. There is some comfort in the fact that my contractor guaranteed the damn for three years (no, I do not have that in writing before you ask), but getting him out here may be another story (I have not tried, yet).
So, what I am asking of you all, is your humble opinion, and how to proceed, if worse comes to worse. I have lots of fingerling and year old fish and gazillion FHM at stake here! Am I jumping the gun and worrying for nothing?