IANate,
I would contact Matt Clark, I haven't seen him on here for awhile, but he is in the southeastern side of the state and might be able to help you a little more. 30k for 1 acre pond, in our area seems a little high, especially with the economy the way it is (less demand for excavating). I was hoping to eventually put in a 3 acre excavated pond for that.
Also since you are in IA, we have damn good dirt, you might see if they will build you a pond in exchange for the dirt (assuming yours is fertile). You might be able to get your pond dug for free this way.
