Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? HELP! Advice for Leaking Dam/Pond

Hey guys would really like some advice on how best to proceed with leaking dam/pond. I have an acre or so pond with a 200+ ft dam on the entire west side of the pond. Used to have large growth trees on the back side of the dam. Took them out several years ago and plugged a few holes from tree roots. All was good for about three years until I inherited a family or two of muskrats. I used to visit the property only a few times a year but am now much closer so i am at the property weekly. Got rid of the muskrats but water is down aout six feet (normal depth 9-12 ft). I see a few muskrat runs and have filled them with bentonite but still suffer from the leaks. To compound the problem, inside of dam is rip/rap from broken up road asphalt (dont like it but was there when i bought the property) and unable to see behind all the asphalt to find all possible locations of leaks. Here are my questions? Anyway to determine from my description if it would be best to try to fix the dam, or drain it and start over. Also, would it be best to breach the dam or to drain with a pump. Also, any idea how long it would need to be empty before I could get in there with a bobcat/backhoe? Thanks for any advice. By the way, I live in southern illinois if that matters.

Large (6"+) trees on the dam, means large roots to decay....Muskrats may have only sped up what was probably inevitable in the dam leaking.

The least expensive, semi-permanent way to reseal the dam is to drain and rework the face of the dam with at least a 1' thick blanket of good clay highly compacted in 6" lifts...the thicker the better, and you should consider rip rap to frevent future muskrat damage due to the relative thinness of the dam seal.

A full re-coring/re-working to roemove all roots is the best repair....

Rainman thanks for the quick reply. please explain recoring. is that removing the dam and starting over? what do you think about 6 ft deep trench down the middle of the dam (maybe 2-3 ft wide) as alternatve. also, if i go with the one foot deep refacing, is that over the top of the existing rip/rapand then what is a good rip/rap to put down? so when you say drain you mean with a pump rather than cutting thru the dam? thanks again.

Re-coring would do a permanent repair...depending on equipment and dam width, complete removal may not be needed....the core would need to be dug out well beyond the deepest roots and then re-compacted very well...Draining should be done and would also provide the ability to reshape the pool area to hold fish and provide varied structure for all seasons....not cheap, but loads of benefits/possibilities...