First post - Glad to have found this forum.

We have owned 30 acres in the Ozarks and have been dreaming of a private pond. Had some difficulty finding a local pond builder but have now found someone we trust to give us a quote.

We are close to pulling the trigger on roughly one acre pond, 10 foot deep pond. Loamy silt soil but have dug several core samples and good usable clay a few feet down. Pond would be excavated with a lower dam as it would be damming a dry creek that occasionally has running water during heavy rain.

My main concern that I have talked with the builder about is that the area has a large watershed of 150 acres. Builder insisted that a concrete spillway and larger diameter drainage pipe are necessary. Concrete added some cost but not unreasonable. Also, the creek does move a good amount of gravel when runoff water moves through it.

So my questions are basically (1) how much runoff is too much (i.e. 150 acres) and (2) does anyone have similar issues with gravel/silt backfilling pond?

Thanks for input.