Man, what a blessing to find this forum, really don't know anything in regards to building or maintaining a pond.

Just purchased 20 acres with an old pond site on it. This will our "retirement place".

Looked through alot of the postings here already, you talking about "information saturation" :-) Will have to sit back and soak it all in.

Anyway, will take some pics and post them from start to finish, I'm sure I'll have questions along the way.

Thanks
griff

Welcome to the forum, Griff. Don't forget to check out the excellent PB magazine and books.

griff :

I welcome you also. You will find a wealth of info and good pond people here to help. !!

Welcome Griff. BTW, on all posts, it really helps to know your location.

For example, I'm in the computer room on the second floor.

Boy, talk about a lack of security. Theo in the sand box. Hasn't somebody there explained SOX to the boss?

LOL Theo! That reminds me of Junior Samples on HE HAW when cashing a check the teller asked if he could indentify himself. He walked to the mirror & said "Yep, this is me"

OH BOY! Here they go again......
Giff,
Don't be scared...they mean well. In fact, the act gets even better when they pull the tiny red car into the center ring and the other 17 of 'em come pilin' out.
Give 'em a chance...they really do know alot about ponds and fish-stuff. BTW, let me know if you can decipher the "sand box and Sox" thing.

Brettski, SOX is an acronym for Sarbanes Oxley. It is new federal legislation that could be called Enron. Disclaimer: I do not have a 100% knowledege and may be partially inaccurate on my following statements. It was enacted due to loss of credibility regarding publicly traded companies financial reports and puts responsibility on Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers and Chief Information Officers. SOX law necessitates that CEO's and CFO's attest to the validity of reported financial statements. They and CIO's face possible jail time if the Annual Report to shareholders isn't accurate. Their signature now indicates that they know what they are talking about, signing, and the penalties involved. When it was enacted, a boat load of publicly traded companies reported that they needed to "restate" prior years earnings. In other words, I take that to mean that they were fraudulent and deceptive. It also necessitates a lot of security on how those records are generated and checked. They are now checked and signed off at each stage of the Accounting process by responsible people. As one Chief Information Officer told me, "This is the stuff we should have been doing for years but didn't".

Regarding the sandbox, computer rooms are, in most cases, no longer wide open. When I was a Programmer, I used to wander in and out at will, help out and often get in the way. They are, in most cases, now closed to anyone but the actual Computer Operators and those who absolutely must be there. This involves both security and efficiency. The sandbox: Everyone knows what a cat like Theo can do in and to a sandbox.

Ric JUnior Samples was my cousin, well cousin to my grandad so whatever that makes me. Went catfishing together at Lake Lanier afew years before his death.

That is really cool Greg! I always liked Jr. I remember a cassette tape of him talking about catching a world record bass in Lake Lanier. Wish I could find that tape. Man that was funny!

Whoever said lying did not get you anywhere. Story went like this....he caught a nice grouper in Florida and clenaed it. Someone saw the head in the back of his truck and said man what a bass. Pub started about a giant bass from Lake Lanier and he wnet with it. It landed him the gig on Hee Haw.

Good story Greg. Way I see it, he didnt lie, just did not correct the misinformed person.

Who is in the mail room? Where is my Jan/Feb issue?

ejrfan,
Read this link. I had to call the office to get mine.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002316

Hi everyone,

I've taken some pics of the site, this was actually an old pond site that we are digging out. Originally this was a 120 acre tract but a fellow bought the entire tract and has split it up into smaller ones.

Just click on the small photos to go to the larger one, located here:
http://www.rgwebs.com/pond_pics/


Input please:
Pic #3: I'm thinking about taking the downed trees etc. and putting them in the deep end for structure. Any do's or don'ts here??

Pic #4: this shows the old "dam side" which I'll have to use, please notice the trees around the edge. I've read several post that mentions the trees around a dam is a no no. Will this be a problem?? If so, what should I do??

Pic #6: just shows water puddling already, can't wait to get water in it...

Thanks
griff

Griff,
(sorry, I spelled your handle wrong a prev post)
yep, trees+dam=issues. If pic #4 is, indeed, and embankment that holds back the water and the grade on the other side is lower than the water level, you have some cleaning up to do. The govt Pub 590 throws out the figure of 25 ft min for any shrubs or trees from an embankment dam structure. I think the pro's would double that. How much water are you going to contain at normal pool?

Brettski,

Yes, the grade is lower on the lower side. Not quite sure what you mean by "normal pool", do you mean how deep or how many gallons?? When you mentioned cleaning up, do you taking down the trees and re-doing the bank??

Also, I keep seeing the govt. 590 publication mentioned but can't seem to find it on their site, would you by chance have a direct link to it?

griff

Pub 590 link
call your county USDA office and get a hard copy. I have also seen em on Ebay. I would try to wrestle one for nix from the govt.

edit: clean-up means removal of not only the trees, but the reason that they are recipes for leaks....the roots. I will admit, tho, that I cannot vouch for the need to do so if the water level and qty in your structure is minimal...I only know that a fundamental in embankments is no veg at the dam....period.

Brettski,

Thanks for the link, I'll look it over...I actually have a retired fellow that worked for the Natural Soil and Conservation department coming out to look at it next week. The guy that referred him to me said he was very knowledgeable when it comes to constructing ponds. Hopefully he can get me on the right track.

thanks
griff

Griff,
Kick us back the input you get from the voice of experience. It will be v interesting to know his opinion on your project. Your current path of research is intelligent and organized; it should yield a fine pond.

Still waiting on the the pond expert..in the meantime I've been cleaning up around the pond area. Getting to the point now to where I need to plant some type of grass for erosion control. Have pretty decent topsoil along the edges. Can anyone suggest some type of low maintenance grass I can use. Please note that I have no way of putting water on the seed for germination purposes so I'll be depending on ole mother nature. I live in southwest georgia and probably average 2-3 inches of rain a month.

thanks
griff