So I bought this property about this time last year here in a rural part of west TN. The pond level stayed at one spot for a while, I caught some catfish out of it, etc. etc.. all was well. Well, Back in the spring we had like 13 inches of rain in one day, and it filled the pond to the brim. The 12" overflow culvert was pouring out water like crazy. I was rescuing fish from the overflow area for several hours.

Anyways, what the rain showed me was a bad leak in the levee. it washed out enough to where I can stand in the hole. It's washed out about a 1/3 of the way into the levee from the water itself. There's a spot where you could see running water surface for a sec then go back underground to where it finally resurfaces to run out towards the pasture next to my property. The water level of course drained back down quickly to where the level was before the rain.

Best repair I can come up with being a new pond owner is as follows...

Seeing as how we haven't had any substantial rain in over 2 months, the water level has dropped to a pitiful level. I can walk in the pond to where the leak in the levee is. I'm thinking of renting a small excavator and digging up the dirt where it's washed out, backfilling, and tamping the everlovin snot out of it. I've read about the chemical additives on here, and am wondering if I should tamp that in during the backfill. Also, there's a guy up the road who says he can build a retaining wall in the levee right there where the leak is so I can backfill up against it. This is the only solution i've come up with from just a logical standpoint with experience in dirt work from a construction background but no experience with ponds.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.