Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New dam/pond questions

We are just about to finish up with our dam dam - we need to set our siphon at its final depth (it's in temp location now) and plant grass on the dam/spillway.
Couple of questions...

- Why does it STINK so bad. Like methane gas or something? We have a lot of decaying leaves and stuff in it as we flooded a lot of brush, so that could be it. Kids say they want a gas mask when we go down there...This thing stinks to high heaven!! Especially around the siphon where the water is really being churned..
- i have a lot of standing trees in the lake as it came up much faster than anticipated, and i want to take a lot of em out. I am trying to lower the water now to get better access to them - there are probly 100-200 trees in the water, up to 6 feet deep.
- What kind of grass to plan on the dam? Mostly clay soil on the dam with full sun
-what kind of grass to plant on the shore? Mostly sandy soil and shade.

Thanks in advance for any opinions..

Hmmm? Got me.. What's the water quality like?

How would you define quality?
It is primarily spring fed - lots of runoff in rain events as there is a 1700 acre drainage area.
6.5 ph, we plan to add lime to it in the next few weeks.

Get a good aquarium water test kit and see if anything come up, especially any nitrogen compounds. Just in case you managed to trap water from a leaky septic system or some other bad source of runoff. Last thing you would want to swim in if so.

Otherwise I would assume anaerobic decomposition bubbles. I have some good stink coming up from some seeps in my dam wall which is bringing up organic-laden water.