Thanks Dave, yeah understand but really need to go this route since I want to build a house based on where my pond ends up being and get a head start. I am currently retired so I can spend as much time as needed in the area. I am in the process of starting to talk with excavators now and working on setting up meetings with the ones I have talked to already that I feel have experience in building ponds. I am hoping from this site I may get a few others that currently live in the Central Missouri area give me some additional leads. Word of mouth is really the best way to find someone plus following up on references. I am already finding out how tough it is to find a qualified pond builder. The DNR gave me a list to start with, but I plan on talking with some of the homeowners in the area also to see who they used and any issues they may have had. There are a lot of ponds in the area and I can tell some are new from the GIS and Google earth. Seems slow on this site currently. Not sure how many visit the forum that much since I am new to it. I thought it would be a good place to start to get some feedback and advice. I have learned one important thing in life. There are a lot of knowledgeable people out there and listening does not cost you a thing. You never know what extra crumb of information can make a big difference. Also trying to research and read as much information I can. This has been in our plan for more than 25 years. Finding the perfect property of course was the first. We have looked at a lot of properties and this one seemed to fit everything we were looking for. I plan on being there as much as I can once the pond build starts.
Bill
