Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Huge fish loss this weekend, now do we re-build?

Our pond is approximately 35 years old and has silted in really bad over the years. There were trees on the dam and we think there may also be small leaks in the dam. We live in central IL and going thru a major drought. This weekend, due to the low water, we lost over 200 fish that we stocked in 2004. Now, we wonder if we should drain and re-build or wait for mother nature to someday fill it back up? Any idea how much $$$ this would cost? We thought about moving the dam back and making it even bigger since we have the room.

Size of pond?

It's a little under an acre

Welcome to the forum! You found the right place.

Mother nature won't fix the leaks on the dam, and won't remove any of the silt.

I'd say re-do the pond and if power is relatively nearby, add an aeration system when it's rebuilt.

What are the primiary uses for the pond?

It was there when we purchased the land so we built our house around it with a walk-out basement overlooking it...the kids (7 and 10 yrs old) enjoy fishing it...

any idea how much money it would cost to rebuild? Ball park figure?

Get in touch with Dave Sefton, in Brownstown. He's in that business and can give you a good idea what it would take to fix the problem. Call him at (618)267-4915. He's "Mongo" on this website.

To initially build a 1 acre pond as a "hole in the ground" is about 10K +/-20% in western NY at current fuel prices.

I hear that pond renovation is ~1/2 that depending on what you need done. If you want to move the dam to both fix the leaks and increase size thereby killing two birds with one stone completely depends on how much soil needs to be moved. Figure $100 an hour for a large machine + operator + fuel.

Bear in mind that to clean much is a large undertaking of patience and planning. You first have to drain the pond and let it dry for a while before being able to excavate it, though you may be able to suck a lot out with a large trash pump and send it someplace else. Then you have to wait for this, that, perfect weather, and then you don't sleep for a while until it is filled.

I would call a few pond/soil guys in your area to get some quotes together. Ask about in your larger garden stores for recommendations, not all pond builders are created equal. Cheap is not equal to a well-done non-leaking pond.

And remember if you use it for swimming, I have found it is much less expensive than getting a good pool + deck + safety + time + chemicals + etc.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

I second giving Mongo a call. Bob Lusk is THE Pond Boss, and the co-founder of this place. Now thru the Fall is the best time to re-do the pond, during the low water season.

Good luck Jen. Let us know what you do about the pond.

I have an acre pond and I was quoted $2000 clean the edge and dig a 12 hole by the beach. He said the hole would be the most work because he would need to move the dirt so he will need two different machines to do the work. And said figure $89 and hour.

If we do re-dig, do we need to do anything different to be able to swim in this pond? do you still put fish in there? A liner? I'm reading posts and see several people on here swim in their pond.

Jennifer

Many ponds in NW Ohio are used for domestic water use and swimming. Those ponds are generally not managed as fishing ponds. Ponds for clearer water and water visibilities of 4-6 ft are usually managed and stocked differently compared to sport fishing ponds that have water visibilities of 16"-2ft. Generally clearer water ponds are the result of fewer nutrients and fewer organics that get into the pond. Nutrients and organic inputs result in algae, weed growth and lots of muck accumulation. Best ponds for clear water are also built differently with watershed sloping away from the pond instead of into the pond. These ponds have to have thick, well compacted clay walls to have no measurable leakage and ratain water well during droughts.

Jennifer; fish eat the mosquito larvae.

Here is what the guy from the Soil and water district just emailed me:
We were hoping to go bigger but that may not be the answer according to him:

I measured your pond at about 3/4 of an acre the drainage area I measured at about 6 acres normally you would want at least a 10:1 ratio in central Illinois. So I wouldn't encourage to expand the area of the pond very much if any. Fish need an area at least 8 feet deep over about 1/4 of the surface acreage of the pond. Cleaning out these ponds can get pretty expensive so if your goal is to be able to maintain fish use the this equation to figure how much excavation you would actually need.

I swim in my ponds and also have a good size fish population, however we use a pier and ladder vs. a beach and I do have to deal with weeds now and then whether it be herbicides or mechanical removal.

We also swim in our pond, and it has a substantial amount of fish in it. It's not easy to have decent water for swimming, while maintaining the fish population at the same time, but it can be done. Having great water for swimming is not too terribly difficult, but when you throw fish into the mix it can certainly get complicated. I believe a lot depends on the type of fish, the goals for the fishery, and the owner's willingness to work, and maintain a hands-on approach.

Here's what our water looks like:

http://s1067.photobucket.com/albums/u434/sprkplugphoto/?action=view&current=feedingtime.mp4

Wow, that water is so clear? What's the secret? If we dig ours out, will it be clearer than what it is now? would a fountain of some sort help? Our wonder is just muddy/stagnant...no way would I swim in it...I wouldn't be able to see my feet!..LOL

Jennifer

One of the secrets that results in clear water is to know how to keep the nutrients out or very low in the pond. Nutrients as fertilizer cause planktonic algae growth. Ungrassed or bare watershed or runoff from farm fields results in a lot of nutrients and organic stuff such as leaves and redidue getting into the pond. A watershed supplying the pond water usually results in more cloudy water with visibilities of 2'-3'.

Cecil's pond noted above gets most of the water from a well which has clear water and water clarity is usually high 3-6ft or more. The clearest, cleanest water to fill a pond and keep it full is only from rainfall or water from roofs. Both of my ponds have not watershed. They stay full with rainfall similar to amounts in IL and roof drainage water. We are in drought conditions and water is down 15" and my neighbor's pond is down 12". Average annual precipitation for IL is 36"-39" which is a lot of water to keep a pond full if the pond does not leak. Thus a well sealed pond should stay full each spring if it does not leak much water. Many NW Ohio dug and sealed ponds only go down a maximum of 14"-16" in a dry year so 30" of rainfall a year keep them full. More water loss than that indicates a lot of water seepage out of the basin.

If your pond is built in good heavy clay soil it can be rebuilt to hold water well and not need the current watershed to keep it full. If you rebuild the pond consider redesigning and building it with a very exprienced contractor and making it smaller and easier to manage for swimming and less for fishing. Talk to the Soil and Water about design for not having a watershed to keep it full. Using a watershed to keep a pond full suggests the pond is built with a leaky basin.