Pond Boss Subscription - $35�.. mini-excavator rental - $500�.. 8.5 acres homestead in western NY - ~250K�. advice from Pond Boss Forum � priceless !!
Okay� So this is my first post to the forum, but I am sure it will be far from my last. Looking for some advice on a few things and from all the reading I have done so far I know I am in the right place. I am in the early stages of determining what it will take to build a pond on my property in western NY. Property is an old farmstead home with a few farm plots and a creek running through the middle of the property. My ultimate goal would be to build a min 1 acre pond primarily for fishing (LMB).
What I am up against? My soil looks to be of the sandy loam nature and I hit the first stages of bedrock anywhere from 5-10ft deep depending on location. Not total slab at this depth but VERY large pieces of rock which exist above the dolomite. I do have a few wet lying areas on the property which I hope might be beneficial.
Where I am at? I have read the soil maps & dug my test pits (10/22) but don�t really know what they are telling me or where to go next.
I attached a copy of my soil maps (bad news) and a table/pic which shows the six pits I dug (also seems to be bad news).
The 3 listed in blue are still open (the others I filled back in as rock was hit too shallow or I never saw hide nor hair of any water). Where I hit water the water table looked to be at about 3-4 ft down. I ended up hitting rock in EVERY SINGLE HOLE to the point where I couldn�t really did much further without widening the hole or getting bigger equipment. Not sure if this was truly slab rock or simply larger pieces of the bedrock above the dolomite layer.
So here in lies my issue�. Every one of the holes that had water in them collapsed in on themselves within 30 mins or less. One of these I ended up having to widen to almost 8 ft around just to get the depth to 9ft (pit#2) where I hit large rocks. I believe this is due to the soil type being too sandy so it slides in on itself.
So here are my questions at this point: �How do I even keep the test pit open to monitor water level since it fills in on itself continuously so you can�t keep it more than 5ft deep� ?? �Should I even bother to keep the pits open even if they are only 4-5 ft deep, but I can see standing water in them? �Am I truly �SOL� at this point or is there still a possibility to even a smaller pond in the area where the water table is 3-4ft deep?? �Two of the pits were bubbling continuously� almost like they were spring fed?? Is this possible that there could be a spring under the bedrock? Or just air escaping?
Just trying to understand next steps at this point and what I should watch for�. not even sure what options I would have to build a pond with the soil and bedrock I am faced with.
Finally � I know that anything is possible with $$$$� just wondering what is reasonable/achievable given that I am a working class �joe� and my pockets aren�t bottomless�. Am I fighting a battle I can�t win ??
