The heavy rain that came through last week pushed things back to this weekend.

The big expense comes in the topography of the field in front of my house. The field drops about 20 feet in elevation and the plan was to have 2 friends, a conservation/heavy equipment teacher and his student, build a dam.

Where I want the pond and the depth desired requires a Class C (high risk) dam which means it has to be designed by an approved engineer and built in a specific way, adding a lot of time to the project.

Because of the volume of the pond, I would need pipe capable of draining it in less than 72 hours for emergency situations. My original price only included a spillway. There is a natural swale at the top of where I wish to dig that runs down to the edge of the property and a 30" pipe under the road that leads to a county dam. The SWCD person I talked to guesstimated a volume of 15 million gallons and figured I would need a minimum of a 24" standpipe and drain pipe and all the associated concrete and equipment to control a butterfly valve in the bottom of the dam. I am going to ask if a siphon system would be acceptable... that may make this project more affordable.

I would also have to cover the entire spillway and associated drainage in rip rap... about 1/4 mile long and 20' wide.

I can do what I want to an existing pond, because it already exists... it doesn't have to comply with all the new pond construction BS is basically what I was told.

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