Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help NEW LAKE/LEAK OR NO LEAK

I live in Cincinnati ohio and on 2/2/02 had a 3 acre lake put in. Shortly after completion
we had a very wet srping. My lake bottom filled about 3/4, with an average depth of 3
to 6 feet. As we all know the summer was a drought in this part of the country with record
days in the 90's throughout the summer. Apprx the beginning of may through the middle of
of September I had no water shed feeding into my lake. I lost about 3 feet of water through
this time. I have been told by others who own ponds or lakes to give it time and I will see
a lot of fluxuation. One thing I need to add is my dam is apprx 500ft long, the keyway
is apprx 30' deep and apprx 15' wide,behind that is 15 to 20' top soil. The total width is apprx
35' wide. I hope that makes sense. The key way was filled with what looked to be pretty good
clay. If anyone has any input for me I would appreciate it. I just am having a hard time
dealing with the water loss and worried that I have a leak. Is this normal?????PLEASE ANY
INPUT WOULD BE GREAT.....Thanks and good fishing....

Hi Lance this is a tough question. First do you notice any seepage at you dam on the outside? Second in my 1/3 of an acre pond until I started using my well to keep it topped off I was losing about 1 to 1 1/2 inches per day earlier this year when there was no rain for an extended period of time and this is a totally excavated pond with no dam and a very good clay content on the bottom. Hope that gives you a little idea of what to expect. Pond is full now and had to drain about 3 inches out over the weekend to get my spillway poured now have to build up the south side 5 inches with left over dirt. Never seem to finish which is good! Bob

Thanks Bob for the info. I do not see any water leaking through the dam or any other areas around the pond. My concern is the bottom may have a leak. During construction, the only area of concern was the one side of the key way. Contractor hit a gravel pocket,he continued down apprx 30'until he hit what looked to be good clay. He thin filled the key way in with good clay. Also, lake bottom looked to be compacted good clay. He did not use a sheeps foot roller, to compact it though. I don't know if that could be a problem as well. During the summer days, I was loosing about 1-2" a day,I don't know if this is all normal or I am just a worry wart. One more thing I spent apprx $20,000. for construction. Thanks again for the help and good fishing.... Lance

Lance, It might be to early to get concerned. A pond takes a year or two to seal itself. With the dry hot summer you had(same as Ga.)the water loss for a new pond does not sound overly excessive. One thing I have found out about my pond is after a long dry spell it takes alot of rain to get the watershed wet enough to have significant run off after rain. I can't tell you how many times this fall I have gone to the pond sure it would be full but only up an inch or two. Hope you get a wet fall and winter!

Thanks for the input Bill. I probably just need to give it time to fill and let settle before I jump the gun. Thanks again and good fishing.........Lance

Lance,

I live north of Dayton and have about a one acre pond. I also have a bottom based aerator. I lost approx. 2.5 ft of water. Sounds like your right on track with me. My concern now is that the dry clay cracked and I have crawdad holes all around the bank. We finally got rain and I pumped my pond full from the creek that was dry all summer. After the pond was full again I noticed after a couple weeks it dropped about a foot again even with the little rain that we havehad recently. I am new at this to and am trying to figure out why my water is still dropping. Those crawldad holes seemed to be about 18" deep into my levy. Even though it was sheep footed well I wonder if they could be causing a problem. Good Luck hopefully we will have a wet winter.

Dave

I'm sure almost everyone experienced similar loss of water level this past year, if the boss has any input I would like to hear his take on evaporation, I have been told that any days over 90 degrees can result in as much as an inch of water loss. ?

Lance,

I've had the same problem that you are having. This is the 3rd. year and it still leaks about a 1/2 a day. I've had more clay hauled in and plan to dig a keyway this time. I took a witching rod and I believe I have found the fracture in the dam. My pond will leak down to a certain point, then will dry up below the dam site. I've used bentonite with not much help. If you find something that works please contact me.

Lance,
Here's a few nuggets to sooth your worries.
When a pond is built, soils are dry. Soils don't repel water, they absorb it.
So, when a new pond first fills, soils act as a sponge, absorbing water. The keyway absorbs less, and allows a minimal amount of water to pass through.
All dirt leaks. If it didn't, we would see permanent puddles some place, somewhere. So, expect a little leakage.
Hot, dry weather exacerbates evaporation. Air absorbs water, too. So, the hot, dry summer air absorbs water from your pond.
Conversely, cold, dry air also absorbs water. That's how ice disappears when temps stay low. It's called, "sublimation".
Three feet of water loss from a new pond is expected. I would be totally surprised if you had not lost that much.
Always remember this, we only borrow water, we never keep it. Water seeks the path of least resistance, leaving, moving all the time. Evaporation, overflow, seeping laterally, moving through soils, or animal bladders, water is continually on the move. Our job is to manage it.
Sounds like you built a good pond. Hang in there, and see what happens during a season or two of "normal" rainfall.

Thanks Bob for the input. I will keep you all updated on the outcome. Sincerely Lance

Lance - I'm from OH 3 hrs north of you and in our area we have a lot of clay lined ponds with a 8 ft wide "keyway" all the way around not just at the dam. These ponds lose very little water when filled. However some of these ponds, when improperly built, leak down to 2 to 4 feet from full and then water retention remains stable there. Basically in very well sealed ponds, the primary water loss is due to evaporation and in our area, they can lose about 1/4" per day (1.7"-2"/wk)when it is hot and breezy. A rain will make some of this up. One inch loss per day is obviously a leak. This is especially apparent when the water loss suddenly stabilizes at a certain depth. Use upright stick markers to track your daily/weekly water loss.

Since your pond has a dam and all the upper sides probably do not have compacted wide clay walls, I suspect water is seeping out in an area somewhere in the variably compacted or lose dirt layers surrounding the pond. Sand or lose soil veins also are problematic. Water seepage may be in only one vulnerable area. Only when the pond is full, will you get a good idea of its relative water tightness. As Bob said "all dirt leaks" and all earth bottomed ponds leak; its just the amount of leakage that makes the difference. How much is tolerable?? Properly compacted clay just becomes very resistant to leakage.