What does it normally run to have someone come out and consult on your pond? My dad is looking at building one on his place in the next few years and talking about options.
Depends....from a true professional if it is just a general consult with no potential business for years...I would say $300-$500. If core samples are taken probably more.
However if you are really close to building and the guy knows you are not a "tire-kicker" and about to pull the trigger then it might be free or your money refunded once the project begins.
We recently had a retention pond of sorts built by the same guy that built our main pond before we bought the property. He came out, walked the property, did some measuring and looking thru some tri-pod instrument, gave his advice, told us about what it would cost and that was it. No charge for the consult because he knew we were ready to go. So we called him a week or two later and said "lets do it". He couldn't start for 2-3 months because he was so busy...but it worked out great.
Fishhound....in your case, contact your local county NRCS agent based out of the USDA office. Site surveys and consults are what they do for private landowners, along with informing you of legal obstacles in the area, watershed sizes, and much more, if they are "good" agents.
The services CAN be awesome, and are free, (taxpayer supported).
Thanks for the advice! My dad is actually in Texas so probably less issues with state agencies.
Mike Otto.... If your dad is in Texas
Mike might do NE Texas but South Texas is a long way to haul dozers.