Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Newbie retired colonel needs your help

Hello all -

Military intel, I know, retiring as a bird colonel after 23 years of serving this great country of ours. Ponds...not so much. Got a reco for a guy to excavate a new pond, about 1/3 acre (see pic) here in Hardee County, FL.
Soil is very sandy. Pond filled up quite a lot as bottom of about 10 ft draws from the elevated water table (tremendous rains here - Aug/Sep wettest since 1890) and I have been slowly adding some well water through hose to fill further.

Here's my question: just rainwater runs down into this pond - no other flowing water - and the soil erosion to the pond bank is incredible - see 2 pics.

Now, this pond was dug just 2 weeks ago. And I have had another guy furrow & seed the bare area around the pond - and even into its banks - with Bahia grass seed. We did this last Saturday and that seed is now just starting to germinate.
And common sense tells me that if and when some sort of roots take hold on these banks (from Bahia grass or some sort of shorescaping plants - saw a good article about those from Clemson U)that the erosion would be at a much slower pace because there would be something to hold the soil in place.

But what do I do about this massive erosion right now, some of which looks like some C4 exploded there? Can't leave it like it is as someone can break a leg if they don't pay attention.

Dumping more of this sandy soil in to the crevasses seems to be a waste as it would appear to just erode again. What alternatives do I have?

Next week, I'm having some fellows put in a 3/4 HP Kasco aerator with an LED light set modified to run red, white & blue, to pay tribute to all the outstanding men & women I served with.

Any suggestions to this old colonel would be most appreciated!

Welcome to the forum Colonel and thank you for your service! I have little intel on sandy soil but I'd think some rock(rip-rap) around the water line would help. You might also try some of the erosion mats that you lay out and stake down. I'm not sure how they would hole the sand though. Some sort of solid barrier will be needed. Somebody will be along with better info shortly.
Thanks again!!

the sand is hard to keep put. once its full it wil help. did you dig a little deeper and steeper with expectation of sand slide.

how deep is the pond gonna be?

start adding baitfish , grass shrimp , etc to get them a head start.

what are your goals fish wise?

wish I could help more with the sand issue....

Col Bob, sand is a mess. I have a bunch of it. My runoff area is in different draws. There, I drop brush piles and rocks to hold it back. My place is hilly and I have had a heckuva time with it. It's not just the erosion but the darn stuff stays suspended for a long time. Rock rip rap around the edges will help some but the biggest help will be grass to hold it all in place.

The stuff also leaks badly into the sides and bottom. TJ, on here, has a product that seems to work. Maybe he'll see this and get in touch with you. I wouldn't stock it until I whipped the soil issues.

Long,long time ago Sgt Dave

Colonel Bob...welcome to Pond Boss! Tons of good info and lots of helpful folks here....Thank you, for your service and congrats, on your retirement.

Colonel Bob, welcome to the forum and thank you for your service.

To mitigate the erosion, there are two things to do.

1) Once the seed is down, spread out erosion mats and stake them in place. Those are the stray mats that you might see on some roadside construction jobs. They slow down the water velocity as it goes downhill, and also holds moisture to improve germination of the seed.

2) Reduce the slope of the ground to reduce the water velocity. That is a 2 edged sword with a groundwater pond as going from full pool to "normal" pool you will have a lot of area that might need re-seeding unless it is covered in plants that can take varying water levels.

Sand won't typically stay in place on slopes steeper than 3:1, and even at that, there's a pucker factor when using a riding mower on that slope. 4:1 or greater (less?) is much easier to walk on, and has less erosion, but even a 6:1 should have erosion mats on it to get the seed started without having to fill in and re-seed gully's that were washed into the ground.

Welcome to PBF Sir!

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service!

I had severe erosion problems around my pond which is a similar size as yours. Here is a pic of what I did with rip rap. I put landscape fabric under it.

Bill D.

Edit: I ran the rip rap from low pool level to full pool level in my water table pond so I would not have to worry about my erosion control vegetation drowning out. On the side of my pond where erosion is much less of an issue, I did not use rip rap and am planting marginal vegetation.

Ground pounder Bob,

I agree with the rest, the erosion mats work well. We used them on the Topias and erosion was reduced.

+1 I have it in the waterways leading to my pond and it is working GREAT!

Colonel Bob, Thank you for your service, it is appreciated and noted!
I join you in retirement in 4 mos, after serving 38 yrs civilian working with our folks in uniform every day. Truly been a pleasure
working with them for a common goal since the day I started. Enjoy your
retirement Sir!

Doug

what are you going to put in the pond fish wise?