Hi all. I have a 120 acre "recreational" tract of land in west central MO I bought primarily for hunting, but having my own fishing lake would sure be nice.

There is only one suitable place for a pond - in the valley below the future cabin site. I've had the NRCS gals come out and flag out and design a pond for me. Turned out 1.4 acres, 16 foot deep before any digging, with a 6" drain pipe. Gave me a warning to have a backhoe come dig test holes to check for rock and suitable clay.

Looking at it on the web soil survey site, it shows "Norris channery loam is well drained, 20 inches to paralithic bedrock. It's rated as "very limited" for pond reservoirs.

Is this a potential deal killer? I have not had the backhoe out yet, but I can't see any bedrock layer in the creek channel. From reading on this site I will try the bucket test. Anything else I should do at this point?

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