Steve,
Regarding NRCS assistance (or lack thereof), you will find varying opinions within this forum of their strengths and participation in a pond project. Your NRCS experience is not unusual. I have had the distinct pleasure of spending short term quality time with a few different NRCS offices in my region that rose to the occassion big time. This occurred while I was searching for the right pond property to develop. Sometimes, tho, some offices are cordial and want to be helpful but are restricted because of available personnel. It also seems in these cases that there is a "decree from above" about what type projects they are going to promote...or not. They do have an obligation to assist in securing soils maps and technical data regarding the same (be careful, tho, because soils maps are "scatter-gun accurate" and only provide a glimpse). In your case, perhaps the most help that they can provide is a list of local experts as Mr Lusk has noted above.
