Hello. I am a total newbie to the pond world. I'm looking at property and have identified 250 acres in north east texas. It has a 22 acre lake. It is 21 feet deep at the dam which is 750 feet across. It was built 10 years ago and built the 'right way.' It shallows to about 6 feet at the end opposite the dam. Average depth is 15 feet. It is well stocked and has no agricultural run off into it. I'm also looking at other property but need a general idea as to what my budget would need to be if trying to build a similar lake. The property is pretty flat so i know there will be a lot of dirt work. what would a reasonable range of a budget be? Is it 25k or 125k or more I really have know idea.

22 acres equals 106,000 square yards. Conservative Estimate minimum $1 per cubic yard, that would make a 3 foot cut over entire 22 acres about $100,000 and your only three foot down. I know very little about construction costs in real world, but 22 acre lake going to cost major bucks on relatively flat ground. True cost is dependent on cubic yards moved x rate per yard. Takes some surveying to find how many yards need to be moved.
Experienced contributor will be along with better info. Welcome to the forum.

Flat ground means you may want to check potential watershed carefully. Less runoff per acre. Also, if cost constrains amount of dirt that can be dug, you might think about a smaller but deeper BOW. Texas summers are tough on shallow ponds!

Only way is to get a bunch of quotes.

Snicholas....as often stated on this board...."it depends".

In my mind I have always thought roughly that pond building costs done by an experienced pond building professional and turn-key are between $7000-$10,000 per acre of pond....of course there are tons of variables as far as terrain, soil, run-off, depth desired, dam type, spillway, drain pipe, syphon system, area access, what part of the country, and level of expertise/professionalism of the pond builder.

Just an FYI...I would think most pond owners on this site have ponds much smaller than 22 acres. My largest pond is just under 4 acres. I guess ideally I'd like to have a 8-10 acre pond.....it really depends on your wants, desires, and budget, but most of us are happy with ponds much smaller than 22 acres.

BTW....where in Texas are you?

Thank you all. That’s very helpful. Gives me a general idea.

Here in Missouri the NRCS figures about 1.80 per cubic yard for a large dam and up to 2.60 per yard on a small dam that doesnt have as many yards, I did one for them for 2.60 last summer, about a 3/4 acre. Hope that helps. now calculating how many yards are in a dam is a fun one.