In early January 2013, a slow moving system moved across much of the U.S. from west to east, filling many of our thirsty ponds along the way. This turned out to be the perfect rain for refilling the newly renovated pond, for it was a slow soaking rain and it refilled the small pond completely and the larger pond to within 20 inches of full pool. A heavy rain would have created excess runoff which might have eroded the newly placed clay.
(Above) At the time of photo the water level in the large pond is about 2 foot below full pool.
.
(Below) In the future I might install a 10 inch PVC 90 degree elbow on the overflow pipe in order to gain some more depth. For now, the small pond is about 6 foot deep.
.
(Below) The blue line shows the emergency spillway for the small pond. It dumps into the larger pond. I still need to pour a concrete apron at the edge of larger pond, where the spillway dumps, to prevent erosion.
While I was stuck in the house during this rainy weather I discovered the Pond Boss Forum and began reading about the experiences of others. These stories inspired me to post this thread, documenting my own pond building experience.
Since then, we haven't received any significant rain, and measurements have shown the larger pond to be receding at a rate of 1/4 inch or less per day, and the smaller pond receding at a rate of 1/8 inch or less per day. I am very pleased with the results and now look forward to addressing other areas of pond management, in hopes of ultimately achieving an attractive and trouble free aquatic utopia.
I guess the biggest lesson I learned from this pond building experience is. Be sure and use the right kind of clay when building a pond. I got lucky by way of having some good clay available with which I was able to re-line the pond. If this clay had not been available this project could have been a costly disaster. As of now I've spent about $4,500 building the pond. A far cry from the original $100 I spent building the first pond. But not that bad, considering what it could have cost. Like I said, I got lucky.
