Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? DIY pond renovation

I'd wait a day or 2 first.

Getting close tho!

That's a LOT of sediment that's washed in. Are you going to do anything to slow it down from happening again?

Valley dams usually can constructed from the material removed from making the pond. Good clay is almost like a vein of coal, it's almost always found in valleys water has run off for years. In my area your probably looking around 15-20k if you do not have to import clay. That's with it being compacted by a Sheeps foot.

As Sunil would say, time to put in the fatties...

There isn't a lot I can do to prevent it from filling again. The neighbor's ground which drains into this pond is in CRP now so that should help some. I hope to have new terraces put in on our farm ground which should also slow it down.
It took it nearly fifty years to get this full, and I imagine fifty years from now a too shallow pond will be the least of my worries. Perhaps by then they'll be cleaning out ponds with lasers.

The excavator broke so while it gets fixed they switched over to the track loader.
Here you see about a six foot cross section of the soil. When the pond had water in it we took a boat out on it and probed around. At about three feet we started feeling resistance, and at six feet we could no longer push the probe down. I would guess the upper brown layer here was that loose muck that still has organic matter in it. Is the black/gray stuff below muck that has lost all organic matter and oxygen?

I would imagine that the soil types in every region is going to make the answere vary on this. On my property, there was a alot of sand in the soil but it looks all grey like yours. I was told that the color was because it had never been exposed to oxygen and that when exposed it turnes brown (corosion?). Some of the dirt, but not all, did turn brown after sitting out for a couple years. We also have in our area what they call blue clay. It will always look like this and is excellent clay for ponds.

I am really enjoying your posts on this project. Keep it coming and thanks for sharing.......Jim

Is that sandy material at the bottom in the last pic or clayey material?

No that is really heavy clay.

It looks like the pond could be completely sealed easily then. Good!!

Here we have the end of the pond away from the dam.

This area usually had only a couple of inches of water in it and after we drained it last spring, these willows and cottonwoods really took off. They are about 5 to 6 feet high and when the pond fills will be standing in 18 inches to 2 feet of water.
Is that likely enough water to kill these small trees? Should I shred them while I have the chance or leave them as cover for the new forage species?

I've seen willows live in pretty deep water.

I would spray them with Reward before the water comes up. I mix it 1:3 with diesel and spray the trunks. However, it looks like you will have to spray as a foliar mixed with water. I believe I mixed it about a cup of chemical to 10 gallons of water and a surfactant. Spray heavily and be prepared to hit it again before the water comes up. In your area you will need to hit it pretty quickly before the winter starts.

I have had willows living in 18" of water, especially if the water would dry up around them once a year, like in a drought. I would get rid of them, now is the chance. How about running that scraper of yours over them, removing the roots and topsoil?

Scrape them off. The willows will thrive as long as the tips can see light. Spraying them with glyphosphate products now probably have little effect as the plants need to be actively growing to kill them. As I found out this summer, only one year of growth can lead to a quite extensive root system that will sprout more limbs if exposed.

Definitely don't use diesel, sort of a bio-hazzard. Very long-lasting in sub soils.

Richard

I also endorse hammering those willows and cottonwoods ASAP. I just use a heavy glyphosate mix for my cattails, cottonwoods and willows and it's automatic every time - but I have never used it on a 5-6' tree - only 1-3'. Dave's recipe looks more appropriate for what you are tackling.

I'd like to come out this week and check things out - maybe can help with some ideas on your watershed protecting against siltation or spraying trees. I agree the CRP should help a lot, but maybe we could find the lowest spots where the drainage flows and put in a series of 2' burms to slow things down. I did that at my place and it really worked well even though I didn't really know what I was doing.

Richard thanks for showing me around today - your new pond is going to be a humdinger and I can't wait to help you establish that unique specialty fishery. I think it's going to be very successful.

Thanks for taking the time to come take a look and the advice on structure etcetera. I took some time yesterday to make some "fish trees" which I'll install when the diggers get done.
I also found a kiddie sand box, appropriately shaped like a turtle, which I think I may use as the base for a SMB love nest. In how many foot of water would I want to place it?

Depends...SMB spawning depth depends of many factors, water clarity, temps, etc. To be safe I would place in 3' depth and make the bed 3-4" rock, not sand. Rock allows eggs to remain oxygenated and not buried under silt.

Do you have photos of your structure?

Yeah, and not only size of the machines, but cost can depend on how good the operator is. Sure a guy might charge less, but if he is slower, then still could cost more. With a trackhoe and bulldozer operating, was costing us a combined 310 dollars a hour to dig out our old ponds.

They look pretty much like djstrauder's except rather than a wood box for a concrete form I used some old plastic pots like you get when you buy shrubs, bushes or small trees. I might also make one pallet "tent" and a tire sculpture.

Here is a 20' willow living in about 15' of water.

how long has the willow been living there? from what I have seen from ponds being built, the willows in deep water eventually die. One time I planted a hybrid willow branch in 7' of water, lasted couple years. what can I say, I wanted an aquatree

Here's what it looked like on November 19th. Almost done.

To the left is a "peninsula" which was originally a pad the excavator guy made to sit on so that he could reach the middle. We decided to leave it there to make a place to fish from. When full it will only be about three feet out of the water.
To the upper right you can see my first "structure". It's actually a pile of concrete chunks we dug out that were apparently footings from a dock that had once been here. I stuck a piece of plastic conduit in it to mark it. I plan to put some foot marks on the water level to watch the water level.

Nice job! Looking great...the photo doesn't do it justice, it's a much larger BOW than it appears. Boy those guys did a solid job from the looks of it...I can't believe the transformation.

Nothing like the first $25,000 YP to be caught. Don't worry, the next one is only worth $12,500 and it goes down exponentially from there!

That makes me feel much better.

I think you need to build a little crushed limestone patio on the peninsula, ice maker, fridge, lounge chairs, tiki torches, grill, fryer.... easy casting to deeper water and your 15" YP, 12" CSBG and 22" HLSMB [Hudland Strain SMB].