Mark, thanks for your comments about stepping back and planning better! You are right, but there are so many questions that need answers it is hard to plan without good advice from those "in the know". While we can design great hotels and restaurants, being in the design business is good only to the point of knowing ones own limitations -- with this pond project I have certainly met mine! BUT, I also like to think I could gain enough knowledge to understand the issues around a project to know that I am asking the right questions and am finding the right resources. This website has given me a tremendous amount of insight and I have certainly enjoyed the many comments from you and others.
So, here's the update... we had the soils test done with clay showing up at 10 feet. We have also determined that this needs to be a "dug out" pond of about 1/2-3/4 acre because of the "wetlands" designation on the lower level of our property where the creek is. The pond location will not be accessible to any of the horses or cattle, so we need not worry about waste getting in it. I have also looked at a couple of options (at Bob Lusk's suggestion) for first a liner and second a betonite mix. The liner is a pretty expensive option using EPDM, so am wondering about the alternative PVC product. Certainly there are a number of posts about that issue here to read, but have yet to find a definitve answer to their differences or a PVC liner company to give an alternate quote and specification. As to the betonite, we have one of the largest brick making companies in the US within 10 miles from here and they sell clay in bulk, so we are checking with them about the actual composition of their product and the application in this use. One of our neighbors dug a 3/4 acre pond with a 12" clay layer and then a 12" topsoil blanket a few years ago with good success - so there may be an option here. But as you say, pay now or pay later. Once we get an excavation cost at the deeper level with the betonite, we can compare that to a more shallow pond using a liner.
Lastly, and on a personal note - I need to know how one becomes a "Lunker" with absolutely no knowledge to offer?!! I was taken back a bit when my designation changed last week from a "Fingerling" and I'm not sure how to feel about this - most especially when the Bill Cody's of the Pond World are also "Lunkers"! Now, besides this question, how should a GIRL feel about being a "Lunker"? Just think about the potential psychological impact of such a term! This is not exactly what my father would have preferred I aspire to... but maybe not! A few thoughts on alternate designations: some posts on this site could be from "Blow Fish" (you know the type); some from "Guppies" (which really should be the term for us pond owner "wanna be" type); some "Perch" from those that want to "read only"; But my real question is this: Where are the "Angel Fish" (other women with questions) or... the "Salmon", like me, who seem to be swimming upstream with their project!
Just some "fish food" for thought...
