I have a NRCS done pond. Essentially, you fill out paperwork and then see if you qualify. They look over your land to determine whether a pond will work. Also, of consideration is whether you are doing things to benefit wildlife. Since I have 3 wheat patches for deer and turkeys, this gave me some needed points. I don't recall all of the details on the selection process but they know what they are doing. Very knowledgable people. They have an annual budget and only a certain number of ponds are approved. Mine was part of an overall package involving other land clearing, grazing capacity, etc. After all, they are an Agriculture Agency and not a fishing hole organization. If you are selected, you select/hire the dozer people after they do the design. It is a fixed cost deal based on amount of dirt moved. They also pay for seeding of the dam area. What they don't pay for is clearing to get to the area, road building around it and all of the niceties to make it enjoyable. They pay for dirt moving. The contractors understand the deal and what they are being paid to do. They know that they have to make the NRCS happy and that makes good sense. One contractor told me that he doesn't make money on the dam building but on the other work the landowner wants/needs. It is my observation that this is where the dozer operator puts his machine into granny gear instead of road gear. He is being paid by the hour and you have to be just as careful here as you are with any other contractor. You will also have a contract with the NRCS to run for several years in which they come by and check on things. No big deal. Also, if you sell the land before the contract ends, you have to repay them for the stuff they had done. I think the term is 3 or 4 years. I've talked to people who say they wouldn't do it again and those that like the program. I like it. Heck, I don't see much downside to it other than waiting until the annual selection meeting to see if you qualify. Even if you don't qualify, I think you can request their assistance on site selection and other technical stuff that I didn't and still don't know enough about. Give them a call. I think it would be worth it.