strmchzr, i hope so too. but from yer descriptions and info from soil survey, it does not look promising that you can just use native soils and get a sufficient seal to hold a pond at full pool year round. however another option: if you have shallow groundwater (yer info states less than 80") and there are no permitting issues, sounds like you could possibly dig a water table pond rather than try and artificially seal a pond above the water table....just a thought.
