Tim,
Beautiful home! Beautiful terrain! I can easily see your desire for a pond.
NRCS worthless? Man, has this one been kicked around on this forum. The bottom line is "depends on the office and the agent". The half dozen or so offices I worked with in Illinois are strong. I got lesser pond interest in Indiana. I have read posts on here that were like your's: more interested in gettin' back into the A.C. JBL had a post on a different thread with the note:
The quality of service all depends on the people in the office. If you really want to make waves call the regional NRCS office in your area and complain about the local office. You won't believe the level of cooperation you will get.
I looked at a 60 Ac parcel in central Illinois that had pond potential, but it too would have to be built into the side of a very long slope. That county NRCS office was up for it. I made one phone call and the information started flowing immediately. In fact, that was the office that sent me my hard copy of the Pub 590! I never even met this guy...just phone stuff weighing out the potential of the parcel. So....in response: No, they're not ALL worthless...not by a mile.
(edit: might be time to get a pond contractor out there for opinions. Are there any other ponds in the area? Find out who's diggin' em and get that guy over there)
