After three years of observing and taking measurements I had come to the conclusion that the pond was leaking rapidly down to the same point, six feet below full pool. This is the same elevation as the top of the sand layer. There were a couple of spots at this elevation I suspected may not have adequate clay coverage.
During the summer of 2012 when the pond was once again bone dry, I took action to stop the leaking. I used my tractor to mine some of the white clay from the trench we had dug next to the dam during the initial construction. I drug this clay to the locations I suspected of leaking and created a patch.
After completing the repairs it donned on me, I could quickly line the entire pond with this higher quality white clay. The red clay which lined the majority of the pond had also been on my list of suspected reasons for the rapid disappearance of water. I believe this red clay is too granular, making it less impervious to water penetration. (The picture below shows the wicking ability of the granular red clay.)
I spent three 10 hour days mining white clay from the trench and dragging it along the bottom of the pond with the box blade, pulverizing it along the way. I spread the clay across the entire bottom and all along the sides of the pond, achieving about 8 inches of coverage. Afterwards, I used my pick-up and tractor to pack it down as best I could.
Next, I turned my attention to the upper end of the pond where the island was located. I say the island �was� located there, because, at this moment I conceived the idea of constructing another pond, using the material contained in the island to build a dam. I never did like that danged old island and completely removing it with only my tractor was not an option. It only took me one 10 hour day to scrape down one side of the island and use the material to plug the narrowest channel. However, after two more 10 hour days I found myself only two thirds of the way finished filling the wider channel on the other side, when it began to rain. (Below) My latest, and hopefully my last, revised plan.
