Emergency Spillway
Our emergency spillway is a flat 12 foot wide depression on the north end of the dam and is approximately 2 feet below the top of the dam. It fans out to about 25 feet as it crosses the road and then falls off down the other side of the wooded ridge that surrounds the pond. If this is ever needed it should easily handle all the water from our watershed and send it where it won't do any damage. Fortunately our small 7 acre watershed shouldn't be too much of a problem.


Picture looking from the west across the emergency spillway back to the pond


Looking from the east across at the dam you can see the sunshine on the emergency spillway

Edge Cleanup
After the dam was finished Tad and crew cut and defined the pond edges so that we won't have shallow water for weeds. They also dug out the upper end of the pond to remove the nasty root jungle and extend the pond several feet up the spring channel.


Upper end of pond with dug out edges

Our desire is to have a natural looking pond. We had Tad leave the edges natural (trees and all) except for a "green" area that we wanted to plant in grass for a play and picnic area. This area is downhill from the house site. Tad had piled up quite a bit of top soil, and we had him spread that in the green area to make a sloped two-terrace contour. With grass it looks good, and my children are looking forward to when this is the edge of the water.

Fish Structure
As part of the finishing dirt work Harold created some fish structure for us in the upper portion of the pond. This will be the shallower section of the pond (3 to 8 feet) and is next to where we wanted to put a fishing pier (we call it a dock). We wanted the fishing focus to be in this portion of the lake.

We didn't want artificial structure. So we used dirt piles, channels, stumps, logs, and rocks. With the bulldozer they stuck a few tree trunks down into the ground with the root ball up. They left the spring channel as a continuous trench. They carved some other trenches. They also built a couple of underwater islands that will come within 3 or 4 feet of the surface.


Structure area while building dock


Looking down at the fish structure area from the tree house (the black pipe is some poly pipe that we buried in the dirt as a conduit between the dock and the tree house - we ran some low voltage cable in this pipe and hope to be able to put low voltage lights in the treehouse for use at night and for some spectacular reflections)

We had Harold place a few big logs (left from cutting off the top of the treehouse tree) in another section in front of the green lawn area. We intend to put a few shovels of gravel around the structure area as recommended for spawning beds. Since we left the trees down to the shoreline we also expect to have other trees fall into the water over time, and hope we'll be able to selectively leave or rearrange them as desired for additional structure.


Later view toward upper end with treehouse, structure, and dock. Harold also pushed some dirt up around the base of the treehouse tree to help lessen the chance that it will uproot and fall over in years to come.

Building Roads
Our vision was to have road access around the pond, but to hide the roads from view. We marked out the road routes with flagging tape and Harold worked with us to cut the roads into the surrounding hillsides. For now we've planted a little grass on them and hope that over time we can get by with an occasional box blade cleanup without putting down gravel. The leaves from this fall make the roads look like they've been there for awhile.


Through the trees on the other side you can see the sun shining on the road cut into the hillside. This is visible only in the winter.


This is a view of the pond from the road through the trees.

We're very pleased with the road concept. The roads provide a pleasant walk or drive around the pond. From the roads you can easily see the pond through the trees. But from the pond you don't see the roads unless you really look for them or unless someone is walking or driving on them.

Liming
All dirt in our area is acidic and benefits from lime. Tad agreed to do this for us by having a load of lime delivered to our place and then using his farm spreader to spread it over the pond area. Since we got a full load he also spread it over the borrow area, the dam, and the cleared green area to help us get grass established there.


After lime spreading

Planting Grass
As soon as the lime was spread we worked to get some grass growing on the dam and the cleared green area beside the pond. We planted a mixture of annual rye grass (for this winter), tall fescue (cool weather grass), and bermuda (summer grass). The family and I put out Triple 10 fertilizer, grass seed, and a straw mulch. Because of the drought we had to wait for the dam area to sprout, but we were able to run a hose to the green area and put a sprinkler on it. We eventually got a decent grass/straw cover on the dam and the green.


Grass on dam (you can see the secondary drain pipe at right edge of photo)


Grass on green area

Later we planted grass on the borrow area. For this we used the same mix except we used bahaia instead of bermuda. This took a lot of tractor work to clean the respread topsoil but hopefully in a year or two we'll have a nice field/pasture.


Grass on borrow area

Closing the Valve
On October 22, 2007, Tad installed and closed the drain valve. We had asked him to get it done prior to an expected rain. We wanted to be there to take pictures, but were more concerned about capturing the runoff. We went up after the rain and the pond "puddle" had covered the pipe and valve. Hopefully the valve will be under water for a long time.

Fishing Dock
We wanted to build a fishing dock before the pond filled with water. We designed and built a 16'x10' platform with a 4'x10' walkway.

The platform supports are six 6x6 pressure-treated posts (painted with the green underwater preservative) set in concrete.


Setting the posts beside the fish structure area


Girts are 2x10s sandwiched on both sides of the posts and bolted together through the post. The joists are also 2x10s placed 16" on center. We cantilevered the joists out over the girts about 12 inches all around.

The walkway 2x10 joists are attached with joist hangers and lag bolts to the platform. The joists cantilever to the shore across 2x10 girts attached to 4x6 posts set in concrete.


The decking is normal 5/4"x6" decking attached with decking screws. We used 16' lengths for the platform and cut 8' boards in half for the walkway so that we have no seams in the decking.  We used a router to round the ends of the decking to make the edges easier on legs sitting on the edge of the dock.


Our decking crew (Rebekah and Ethan)

We don't intend to put railings on the dock since it is for fishing and sitting. We left the walkway 4x6 posts sticking up so we can put a gate between them. This will let us prevent little children from wandering out on the dock by themselves.

After letting the dock dry for 3 weeks we brushed on some TWP wood preservative with a cedartone tint to make the dock blend in with the natural colors of the landscape. We're pleased with the results. The dock is very solid and sits right next to the best fish structure in the pond.


Dock after staining

Stocking Plans
Our fish goal is to have a low management pond with fun fishing for family and friends. We certainly plan to eat some of what we catch. Plans are for a typical bluegill and bass pond. We currently don't plan to fertilize the pond. Based on my reading and advice from the Pond Boss forum our planned schedule is:

  • 10 lbs of Fathead minnows in late Feb 2008
  • 1000 2-inch bluegill and 200 2-inch redear sunfish in March 2008
  • 100 2-inch largemouth bass in early fall 2008

Our local supplier is trying to convince me to use less minnows and more bluegill, so our plans might change.

Watching the Pond Fill
As of late February 2008 we are watching the pond fill up. We've received good rain so far this winter and are within three feet of full. Our spring source is providing enough water to offset evaporation and to slowly saturate the edges of the pond while it fills. Rains have brought good runoff. Our area really needs good rains this winter/spring to help recover from severe drought. Before the pond fills much more we need to put some preservative treatment at the water line of our treehouse tree and get our spillway trash rack put on.



Pond Building Lessons Learned

I'm glad we:
  • Took the time necessary to pick the best site on our land (because you can't move the pond later)
  • Got a good builder and listened to him
  • Tried not to have expectations about timeframe so that delays didn't keep us from enjoying the process
  • Learned from the experiences of others
  • Tried hard to get it right the first time - building something that should last beyond your lifetime should be done carefully so that others will be glad you did it the way you did it
  • Left our shorelines natural
  • Created a shoreline shape that "hides" some of the pond when seen from the common vantage points - this makes the pond seem bigger and makes you want to go see what is around the corner
  • Tried the crazy experiment with the treehouse (building it with my family was worth it even if it falls down tomorrow)
  • Built our roads back away from the pond edge
  • Built our dock and fish structure so that people can fish conveniently
  • Involved the family where possible so that in years to come it will be "their" pond, grass, dock, treehouse, etc.


I wish we had:
  • Planted grass on the pond bottom when we planted the other grass so that we would have had less silt washing in during fill-up
  • Tied down the big logs we placed in the bottom of the pond (they dried out before filling and they are floating now )

I'm sure we'll add to our "wish we had" list over time but right now we're very thankful for the way our project has gone. God is good!

Conclusion
Building a pond has been a challenging but rewarding project for my family. It took most of a year to get it built because of various delays. Now we look forward to seeing the pond filled, to stocking fish, and to enjoying watching it change through all the seasons. We were blessed with a great site and a skilled builder, and the reality of our project is even better than what we anticipated when we started. We hope that our pond will bring enjoyment and benefit to our family and friends for years to come.

Psalm 24:1-2