Ok. So wife finds her dream property with big 6 acre pond and wants me to buy it. I've never owned a pond. Its was made for recreation maybe, its not a farm. It is springfed at higher altitude and was constructed with an 8ft earthen dam, and two smaller berms damming the rear and a side outflow. There appears to be no surface inflow beyond runoff in the small watershed.
It was built like 50 years ago, or more. Pond but was not maintained well. Main dam is covered in thick brush but no trees. hasnt been mowed in years likely. Owner said standpipe rusted out and he had it "filled in", so none is visible. It looks like there is vegetated spillway to side of main dam that hosts outflow, which is very small. I guess its the production from the spring? The pond is full, and the situation doesn't look inherently unstable with exposed erosion. I guess its been this way for years. Owner is elderly, been there 25 years. Didnt do much with it.
soooo... as a new potential owner, I want to restore this and manage it well. But I don't want to go bankrupt either since its just for wife recreation. Is this a RUN FOR YOUR LIFE situation, or should I look at this with optimism, lol. Is this a mainenance situation, or a complete rebuild? Because standpipe was filled in, will I have to dig it all up and rebuild the dam? I need solutions people that gets my wife into this place. comments welcome.
