I met with a lady from the NRCS this morning. I'm glad to report that she seemed knowledgeable and helpful.
We briefly discussed the two streams on the property, but she said that damming a flowing stream would require something like an act of congress. So we moved on to consider the draws that have springs.
In the west draw with the spring between the two ridges we identified two possible dam sites, one near the bottom and one closer to the top. The one closer to the top is a nicer location relative to best homesites, but would likely be a smaller lake and is more questionable as far as water source. The site at the bottom seemed to offer a larger lake site (she guessed 5 to 7 acres) and the drainage and spring source would be more reliable.
She said that the clay looked good at both sites. Apparently springs are a reliable water source for ponds in the area and she said the spring was a positive since it had a defined channel and was year round. As far as she knew no one in the area had ever had a spring become a drain, and those with springs had ponds during dry times while those relying on drainage did not.
She is going to work up some estimates of size of water and dam for both lake sites so we can decide which one to pursue. She will then bring an engineer to prepare the specs so we can get bids. She seemed to know what she was talking about and I'm looking foward to seeing what size estimates she gives us. She said that dirt moving for dams in this area was around $2.50/cu ft. Does that sound like a reasonable number?
That's all I know for now. Thanks for the input so far.
