Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam New pond construction- Wisconsin

We are about a week and half underway on a new pond construction. The surface area will be somewhere between 2 and 3 acres. As of now we are planning on an 18 inch surface drain pipe, and an inline water level control structure (Agridrain) with a 6 inch PVC pipe. Does anyone have any experience with these? I will post pics as we progress.

No answers for your questions, Matt, but welcome to Pond Boss! Can't wait to see pictures - we're kind of simple like that around here!

Hi Matt,
Welcome to the forum! Glad you found it early in your pond's life, I didn't, and wish I had. Loads of great info and wonderful folks here. I'm up in the Appleton area, and you'd be welcome to swing by and see what I did for water control. I had some previous posts with diagrams. Looking forward to hearing more about your project.

Jeff

I am still working on trying to figure out how to post pics. I am currently working on figuring out what I want for structure. I was considering having the contractor put in a small island before he finished up. Any thoughts or ideas on this?

Posting Pics

Use that link for posting pictures.

Use: http://www.acme.com/planimeter/ to determine surface size.

I think island's are very cool! It's great structure and an extra area where fish can catch bugs of all sizes, and frogs and such! Could also be a great spot for a feeder if you ever decide to feed at some point. Of course that would depend on size of island.

Islnds ARE cool, BUT:

1) They provide good nesting habitat for geese.

2) In a small pond, they create problems if you want a deep pond.

Here's an attempt at posting some pics of the project.

A couple more pics:

Island: good place to get rid of extra dirt, but in addition to what esshup said,
(1) they will get overgrown with weeds if you don't maintain
(2) make your pond look smaller
I had one in my last 1A pond and didn't like it.

We have the structure your looking for, looks like it's gonna be great!

Just an idea instead of a dirt island. Build some floating islands. Then use your extra dirt to build a slip and slide hill into the pond for the kids.

[img]http://.com/p3.UuKS3r[/img]

Oh, that's awesome! What do you use for the slide itself? I have a fairly steep incline into the pond, and that may be a blast to set something up!

We are still in the construction phase. I am planning on using a sand base then conveyor belt covered with epdm membrane. Another option is a roll of thick mil plastic sheeting. I am also looking at building up the pond edge to send the slider up and out a short distance. It's been a fun project and the kids can't wait for the slides.

We have been rained out for the last week. There is another 5-6 feet of the dam to be built yet. Other than that, just shaping and removing 1000 yards of black dirt from pond basin, which the contractor is buying from me. Almost time to start adding structure and seeding the slopes. I have the side hills enrolled in CRP, and need to have everything reseeded by the 14th of May.

What part of the state are you in?

Very southwest corner of the state; a small town called Cuba City. We are about 15 miles from Iowa and Illinois.

Very cool, I'm not far here in northern Illinois. I was just turkey hunting near you last week. Let me know if you need any help, would love to see your place as things progress.

Peepaw where are you at in Northern Illinois? Have you ever heard of Keystone Hatcheries? It is in Richmond, IL, I had seen something on the internet on them. You are welcome anytime to come check out the project!

Mike's my man at Keystone. He's less than 10 minutes from me and offers our habitat products as well. I buy all of our fish from him for our sportsman club stocking program for our private 830 acre lake, Wonder Lake. Great outfit to work with!

Good to hear that about Keystone! They can deliver to me for $29 which is very reasonable, so I was hoping they were recommended. Thanks.

Matt:

Same here - checky your PM's. I'll probably be going up to Keystone in the next week or so for some fish for a pond in Illinois.

So currently the dam is a little over halfway done. Up until yesterday the contractors hadn't worked in a week due to rain. There is currently 2-3 feet of water in the basin area. Upon inspection yesterday I found a very small trickle of water starting just below the dam (where dam meets undisturbed soil). There was always a small spring that started in this area. The water drop in the basin yesterday was about 1/4". My concern is where is the water coming from and what will happen and much higher pond volume with the increased water pressure.

The core trench was fairly deep into very good clay and nothing was trickling prior to recent rains, although another 30 yards below dam there was some running water.

Is this anything to be concerned about, or is it too early too tell. The contractor was a little concerned.

Only a little concerned? Springs can be nightmares anywhere around a pond.

If the spring is truly behind the dam it might not be a problem but it is hard to tell. 1/4" drop isn't a big deal. The water is wicking back into dry soil.

Were there any wet spots when doing the core trench?