Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Most Important Concern in Designing New Pond?

I am in the process of building a new pond on my land. I have done a lot of reading and I am getting information overload.

I need help to prioritize!!!

What is my most important concern for my new pond? What are my consideration for each

1. Water supply? Well water vs irrigation water vs. run offs
2. Shoreline Design? 3:1... 2:1 .... 4:1
3. Soil holding water?
4. Water Clarity?
5. Ecological Planning?

Please give me your input so I can prioritize. I have different consultants. Some quote me 50-60K just to DESIGN the pond at another state and I will have to hire another contractor to follow the design.... That will run a 4 acre lake to 200K+ project. I need to know how much design I can do myself or should I accept the price tag. Does that sound reasonable for price?

Can't answer any of your questions, only pose more. What are your goals, what are you expecting from the pond. Is 4 acres what you want or need? How much time do you have to manage the project, what skills do you have that can be used in any or all of the process? What help is available from your local, state and federal agencies? Have you visited any neighborhood ponds?

By the way welcome, and beat the search engine to death on this site and you will be able to answer many of your questions.

Rad is right about defining your goals. To me, you can't have a pond without water supply and the ability of the soil to hold water. I believe that you will find that the cost of artificially supplying water from a well is exhorbitantly expensive. Actually, all of your 5 options are important considerations.

I would not pay 50 to 60K to have someone design a stopped up hole in the ground. As a start, I would contact the Pond Boss office and order about the last 20 back issues of the PB mag. Mike Otto started discussing pond building about that time. Education is about the least expensive step in the process and lack of knowledge can be the most expensive. I would also purchase the book, Perfect Pond from the PB office.

To answer your questions, you can, with some study, design it yourself. And that does sound pretty high priced.

However, you mentioned another state. If you're not there, it will take a little more work.

Hang around, read the posts here, and like Rad says, beat on the search engine. Don't rush into it without knowing what you are doing.

Editing here. Take a look at Brettski's post "Too much time on my hands." It does a great job of detailing his journey that you are about to take.

WOW!!! you guys are so kind as to helping me with advice. Thanks for the input. I have just ordered the perfect pond book and the cd sets. I will definitely get the back issues as well.

As for my goals:

1. clear blue water.
2. use for canoing or maybe swimming
3. wild life and fishing is secondary to 1&2

3-5 acres of lake is what my land allows. It is an existing caliche pit. It will be an excavation.

As for me, I have no skill set whatsoever for this project. It will be depending on the contractor. Neighborhood ponds are usually make out of existing caliche pits. There are couple old caliche pits nearby that already hold water.

I simply don't know where to begin. There is a contractor here that build all the lakes around here, however, he doesn't seem to share the knowledge of the people in this forum. That gets me kinda nervous. He pretty much told me he will dig down to the water table then fill it with irrigation water. He made it sound very simple. I guess it somehow all work out for him.

My question is, do I just go with the contractor or find a consultant from out of state? He seems to be the only person around here building ponds.

EXCAVATION = $$$$$!
What part of Texas are you in? Here's an older (2 1/2 years ago) project I did. Click on slideshow

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=60352&fpart=1

Your #1 goal often doesn't correlate to your 3rd. Blue water vs. fishing and wildlife. At least you're in the right place! Pond Boss!
al

Howdy, ArJay.

Information overload is understandable, since there are so many things to consider. If at all possible, slow down the project so you have time to absorb all the info. I think you will be much happier with the final pond result and price tag if you have a good grasp on each facet ahead of time. I would be happier with both of my ponds (much, much happier with #1, built before I found Pond Boss) if I had been able to spend more time on them for planning and observing construction.

ArJay
Welcome, sir.
This might be some help...or...more confusing...?
My journey
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...pack a lunch

Ahvesta,

clear water is more important to me than fish or wildlife. I can forgo fish or wildlife.

I am in Palmhurst Texas.

Theo, I am glad I found this site and will definitely learn from the collective wisdom.

Brettski, Thanks for the link, I will be reading them the next few days.

Finally, is there any site plan or grading plan of the lake project posted on this site? I am hoping to get some ideas on how to put my plan on the paper.

I strongly suggest that you call Mike Otto and talk with him. http://www.ntin.net/~mikeotto 1-800-882-3478 mikeotto@ottosdirtservice.com

Here is why. You don't have a normal situation. No one has addressed this yet. From your post "It is an existing caliche pit". This presents a unique situation due to its properties.

Caliche is a hardened deposit of calcium carbonate

The term caliche is Spanish and is originally from the Latin calx, meaning lime.

Caliche beds can also cause the surrounding soil to be basic (have a high pH). The basic soil, along with calcium carbonate from the caliche, can prevent plants from getting enough nutrients, especially iron. Your water will reflect your soil. If it is calcium carbonate rich and you have clear water because you are phosphorus or iron limited (common situation with low P water) and you remove the limiting factors (add P and or iron through a water source) you can go to 0 visibility very quickly with a plankton bloom like you have never seen.

Call Mike and show him this post or tell him about your dirt.

thanks a lot! I will call him today.

ArJay, foregoing fish is OK. However they do a pretty good job of mosquito control. You will seldom find mosquitos around a stocked pond. No fish can mean more itchy bites.

The mild climate in his area will be challenging!

Well, the climate here is unfortunately not mild.... We have only 2 seasons here, summer and not summer. Summer here is pretty hot going upward to 110F. I imagin if I want any fish at all my pond will have to be 10-12 feet deep at least. Also, will the fish do okay in caliche pond? If so, what kind of fish should I consider?

You will probably want it at least 10 to 12 ft deep. Unmild weather evaporates a lot of H2O. Lack of rain can exacerbate the situation. If I really wanted clear water and enough fish to control the bug population, I would go with hybrid bluegill from a reputable hatchery. You will also need 3 or 4 feeders to give them some groceries.

I was quoted around $800 to design and $10,000 to build a 2 acre pond here in Bryan. I think that $200,000 is WAY too high.

Hi ArJay - Welcome aboard! Take it from another fingerling - you are to be commended for finding Pond Boss and are very fortunate to be in the midst of endless and invaluable information derived from EXPERIENCE - good and BAD - from these awesome guys who are committed to helping YOY like ourselves make it from the spawning beds to the top of the food chain.

I too was exactly where you were about six months ago until I found Pond Boss and Bruce Condello so generously gave me his time and shared his operation with me. We've now walked my parcel several times and each time we chat or I read another post in PondBoss I shudder to think I was about to break ground without the latest tidbit of wisdom these great guys have to offer daily - it's a little crazy to finally sack up and admit I've learned enough to finally move forward...but with Mike Otto and Bruce leading the way I am exceedingly confident. Who wouldn't be?

FYI - My project will consist of one 4 acre pond plus 4 smaller ponds and my total price, including tree removal, beach construction, and structure building will be around $30k. I added a 90 GPM well dedicated to keeping the ponds full and oxygenated and had to spend 16k running electricity out there. All in with fish, aerators, structure, feeders, green monster lights and dock I am still only around $70k for FIVE ponds completely "pimped" out. My point is - you can achieve a heck of a lot, as Ezylman suggests, for FAR LESS. My suggestion would be to definitely work with Mr. Otto and completely trust he will have your best interest in mind and provide the ultimate bang for your dollar.

Just my two bits - I look forward to seeing your project progress!

Fingerling out

Holy Bluegill y'all....I done all growed up to lunker status! Although a wee lunker I may yet be.

Wee lunker...out!