Here are some updated pics from today. They resumed work yesterday and have gotten a bunch done with 1 track hoe & 2 dozers. We had over 10 inches of rain over a 2 week period which flushed out the dead fish and completely opened up the old creek bed running down the middle of the lake - good! Water is leaching into the creek bed and the mud is drying faster. The main guy is thrilled at the clay he's cheating from the lake bed to build up the levee. He calls it "pipe clay" and says it is perfect for building a levee. There's a kitty litter mine not too far away and they use the same stuff in their kilns.
Looking north from south end of lake bed - newly opened creek bed.
This part of the lake bed still has some drying to do...
A bunch of new dirt behind the levee - it will be 5:1 when complete. He's going to spread topsoil silt he removed on top to assist with growing grass.
Scraping up big chunks of "pipe clay" for behind the levee - and making my lake deeper.
We're going to let the water level rise a few feet in order to get enough water to release fingerling CNBG and FHM in a few weeks. How much water do I need before I release 8 acres worth of fish? He plans on having the job complete by 12/1 then he can dam up the break in the levee and let the lake fill completely. I need to find the proverbial "goldilocks zone" of not too much water to impede the dirt work but enough water to sustain newly released fingerling fish. Advice? Thanks.
