Well, the "diggers" are here. Showed up at 8AM.
One guy here with a Hitachi shovel. Trenched and cored the dam and now he's doing something weird... He's digging big holes and then other holes and putting the dirt from one into the other hole. I'm guessing that he's softening it up so the bulldozer can move it out and where it will eventually go much easier and efficiently. Hmmm...seems like a waste of time maybe, I'll have to see how it goes... BTW, I'm getting a LOT of pretty good dirt. Nice stuff finds it's way into valleys...
We hit water in several places at 6-8' deep. When we're not in a drought the water is about 4' higher. Almost like a spring. I've got a natural "wet bowl" where the pond is going. I'm not too worried about water loss. I'm guessing about 1/2 acre pond with over 20 acres drainage area. Here in southeastern Alabama, that should be plenty.
I'm having them build about a 50X50' "shelf" off one side that's 2-3' deep for spawning and maybe to let some aquatic plants grow.
There were 3, 12-20' tall willow trees growing there that I had moved to the upsream edges of the pond, well away from the dam. They should provide some nice shade.
Well...wish me luck! Hope for continued dry weather until next week and then some rain to fill the pond and let the grass seed germinate. What would you recommend I plant? Bahaia grows real well around here.
