Hey all, We have a small community pond on the upper smoky hill river here that had running water over the spillway until 2003, when recovery stage of the aquafer no longer supported this system. This impoundment has been a huge attraction in this community since 1951 when it was deeded to the county.
We are looking to seal the bottom in an effort to gain fishing access again.
Our local community totals 6500 people in the entire county and we are literally, in the middle of nowhere, so we have a limited budget before any grants are considered.
We have sent samples to a couple of engineering firms to get some sort of idea as to what will be best as a sealing agent.
As I've mentioned in another post, we have very, very little clay content in our soils in this corner of the state and in most cases in this area, Bentonite will not work.
Because of our location we have not been able to locate a firm with much knowledge to help us with the "how" part, or the "with what" part. I'm hoping that 1 of the 2 firms I sent samples to can determine what compound will be best.
I know there are polymer "spray-in" liners and poly material liners but not sure the expense will allow such.
It seems like we've been spinning our wheels trying to get something done here but we have little guidance on how to move forward. We have an engineering firm here that has attempted to help with some aspects of the start of this project but we can't get a straight answer on how to seal..I feel there is just a lack of experience from the firm we are using.
Does anyone know how the cost structure works to bring a firm "in" to do something like this??
I guess I should also add we have a water source from the State on 3 irrigation wells that they are recertifying 87% for surface rights and have budgeted costs in to lay pipe across the road to have a source of water for this.. That part is a sure thing. This part of the smoky hill river is still under the Navigable stream classification so we are aware of required permits to work in the river basin, we've already met and discussed this part and all parties are on board with the work, we just need to know/decide what that work is.
I guess I'm looking for some suggestions as to whether there are pros and cons to a material based seal such as sodium carbonate vs other methods-perhaps a liner and how those costs would compare. Maybe there's options we are not familiar with, we just don't have the available engineering firm with the right background. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

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