Hello everyone. I'm a newly minted member but have been browsing the forums for about a year to start to learn from the wisdom of this community. Sorry for the lengthy first post!
I am planning to construct a 1-ac pond this summer in Northeast Indiana on our 20-ac property. I have met with a couple pond builders but haven't selected one yet. We will be building a home on the property a year or two later. I thought I'd post my current design/thoughts and ask you experts to poke holes in it or give other suggestions/considerations.
Objectives for the pond are 1) swimming, playing at the beach, canoeing, etc (I have 5 kids and a large extended family that will likely be gathering at our place regularly), 2) a nice, relatively clean, aesthetic feature to add beauty to our property, 3) fishing (we'll enjoy casting a line every so often, but don't necessarily need the biggest and best trophy fish or anything like that).
I expect to stock starting with FHM or other small forage fish initially, then BG/RES and LMB (and maybe a few SMB?) thereafter.
I have attached an image of the currently planned pond design (sorry it's a little rough).
Pond size/dimensions/features: • North side of pond to have a bank (perhaps you would call it a dam) to maintain even height with south side (where the ground is ~3 ft higher). I'm targeting a 15' wide bank of compacted clay, per one contractor's recommendation. The outline in the drawing leaves 15' outside of tree drip lines of the woods to the north, to avoid tree damage from mounding over roots. • Pond edges sloped at about a 3:1 grade, except for the beach area. I wouldn't feel comfortable going steeper, in the interest of child safety. • Beach to be 40' wide, 20' deep. Sand to extend into the pond to 40' out. It can gradually narrow off the beach to a width of about 30'. Clay ridge around the end of the sandy area to keep sand in place • Entry point from the beach to be very gradual and include several levels of flat ground • I will plan to lay down weed barrier down before sand is spread • At the corner to the south of the beach, we'd like a small flat "shelf" with water around 1' deep for kids to play. After a "step down" off the shelf, the edge will be gently sloped for safety. • Another small shelf on the south east side for fish beds? I've seen mixed thoughts about whether it is a good idea to give BG extra ideal bedding locations since they are prolific breeders even without additional help, and I don't want overpopulation. I'm thinking this other shelf would be a bit deeper and intended more for the LMB. • Depth to reach 10-12' at most places, with a couple deeper pockets of around 15-18' towards the center and east portions • Overflow to run into woods at NE corner of pond. • Stone/riprap: currently undecided on this. Opinions here seem to be varied. • Floating dock to be built on the south side. I like the idea of being able to detach the dock portion and use it as a raft. • I'd like to run electrical to the beach and the dock to power aerators and anything else. • Fish structures/habitat will be mostly in the central and east portions at various depths. Brush piles (I have mostly Oak and have seen the warnings here about tannins so will limit quantity), Christmas trees, cement blocks, vinyl siding strip creations etc., following the many great ideas on this forum. • Bottom aeration on the eastern half, ideally with multiple diffusers. Should these be in the deepest/coldest areas? • Surface aeration/fountain (?) – this would be more for aesthetics as these don't seem to improve water quality significantly compared to bottom aeration
I don't anticipate much trouble with water level, as there is decent watershed to the south and west. The soil is good clay and there are successful ponds nearby. The attached image shows a berm that will be constructed at the property line to the south, but it will have at least one culvert to allow water flow to the pond. I will have a well within 120' of the pond that could be used for additional fill as needed. Would it be advisable to have a pipe run directly to the pond when the well is dug? Or should I just plan to use a garden hose from a house spigot at any times where I may need to add some water?
Where am I on the right path, and what should I rethink? Any other ideas I'm not considering? Thank you all in advance!
