Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Watershed Question

I have never seen this asked, and to me, this matters MOST for new pond owners to be.
If I bought a 5 acre lot, could I get away with building a 2 acre pond?
I have seen others ponds VERY close to their houses, but I guess I need more information on the watershed stuff. Any and everything, post away please.

BD,

Guess I'll start the ball rolling...

Can you get away with it? Are you asking from the legal (permits) standpoint or more so from an "engineering" standpoint?

I'll comment on the latter, and don't know about the former. It depends on your annual rainfall, your soil conditions, and the watershed. There aren't absolute answers. Some areas require lots of watershed, some you can just dig a hole in the ground and wait for it to fill up.

I would first identify all potential building spots, then overlay to a topographical map that shows maximum water level. Then I would measure the distance from the max water level to the home and compare to nearby construction to see if you have adequate separation. Keep in mind that certain soils will saturate in the presence of a pond and could influence the type of basement that you would have.

One consideration regarding watershed on small acreage is the source of the watershed. A neighbor upstream could change the topography in many ways including building their own pond directly above yours.

Great tips so far.
I am in N.E. OK, and the rainfall shouldn't be a problem I don't think. Most of the soil around here I believe has VERY good clay content, so it shouldn't seap...shouldn't obviously being the keyword.
I also understand it's hard to say from my general post, I was just trying to get an idea of if it could be done. (not so much legally per se, just that yes it could be done, and not flood etc)
I am quite honestly looking more at 10 acres when we build our house (and then pond), but some of the differences in the properties themselves (not to mention the $ difference) makes me just want to stick with 5 acres. I have found great 10 acre lots with crap for building a pond, but great for horses. :p

What else? I plan on having a local NCRS come out before I buy the land to see if a pond is feasible, and how big I could go.
Up here, every 6th or so house has a pond, and the ones I have fished/seen/heard about, don't seem to have much watershed. One lake I fish locally is 110 acres, and it looks like there is only 20 acres TOTAL for the watershed.

BD,

I suspect you just answered your own question. One of the best indicators is what goes on around you....if ponds around you don't require much watershed, then you may be in good shape.

Just one word, from my experience, on the NRCS and watershed. I had them look at my pond site several years ago. It was to be a 4 acre pond with about three acres of watershed. They told me it would never fill up and even if it did fill, it would never hold water. It was full within 1 month of compeletion and has stayed full ever since, except for this summer in which we have the least rainfall in May and June in the history of record keeping. The NRCS guys just looked at their tables and didn't look at the 60 inches of rain we get every year.

I will keep that in mind, thanks again guys.

Keep in mind that your watershed has nothing to do with the size of your property. I've got 67 acres, but the watershed for my creek is 320 acres. Like others have said, it all depends on the annual rainfall and the watershed. Your NRCS guy can figure your watershed in about 10 minutes.