I've been reading threads off and on for a couple of years since we started thinking of building a pond but finally joined so that I can dig in a little more.
We built a pond in west central IL toward the end of last summer (probably around 0.5 ac and ave 15' deep though I haven't actually measured it) and stocked in late fall with lm bass, bluegill, res, and a few channel cat. Trying to get the vegetation established and beach area finished up have been my primary goals so far with many more goals to come...
Two main issues I've dealt with so far is dirty water due to runoff and I'm concerned about possible leaking. As far as runoff goes, that's why I'm working so much on vegetation. The soil isn't the greatest and it's pretty steep slope all the way around so both of those are working against me. When it comes to the possible leak I would say that's the main reason I'm here at the moment. I don't know enough about leaking vs evaporation rates but my gut tells me there's a leak. I've had a measuring pole in there since early spring and while I haven't recorded the rate of loss it seem like a lot. There is a spring about 12' deep (when full) that I wish I would have had plugged when we ran into it so I would at least know that wasn't pulling water out now. My intention is to research what I can find here in other threads to hopefully decide what to do next!
Thanks FishinRod, I wish pictures would work as that would give a better overview of what we've done. We did put a berm above the terraces to divert water which will still end up in the pond but I'm going to put a few "stops" along the way to slow it down. The soil (it's all timber soil that hadn't been disturbed in decades) could definitely use some fertility but I'm getting vegetation established well enough without it I think I'll just let it be and build up on it's own. I'll be digging into the past threads looking for tips, tricks, and solutions!
