Well, after 2.5 months since initial excavation and 4.5 weeks of constant well water pumping our new 1.5 acre pond is full. Been watering grass around a portion of the pond daily and planted several ornamental trees along hillside portion of pond. Got all my structure placed, aerator humming, boulders around the edge, stocked over 1K yearling bluegills from the state DNR last week. So far no signs of leak, we'll see how it holds water over the next few weeks. Pond builders were crazy meticulous with the excavation process and core trench building, which was nice. Now, to pay the bill... Overall with well and all amenities mentioned above probably about a 60k investment(although the boulders were free). In my opinion... WELL WORTH IT! Been an awesome process and thank you all very much for advice. I'm sure there will be many more questions as time goes and my mini ecosystem evolves.
