Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site NRCS?

hey guys i was watching bill dance and he was doing a special on building ponds. he said that there was an organization that was government owned and that they would come out survey the land and tell you how you should build the pond. i thought it was the national resource conservation service? has anyone else seen or heard of this? any info helps thanks ahead guys ps i live near dallas (farmersville)

Yep the NRCS is who I used to help me with my lake... They did such a great job I would encourage any one to use guys like the ones in the Oglethorpe Wilkes County office. Which is who I used here in North Georgia.

I used them. They are good on planning and sometimes have cost sharing plans. The big deals to them, for cost sharing programs, are erosion control and wildlife.

walbok,

I think that you will find some of the NRCS offices are excellent, some not so great. By and large they have a lot of valuable experience. My local office seemed to be great folks but they were "too busy right now" to spend any time with me. I feel they were understaffed.

NRCS administer several government programs. I have not personally participated in any govt. programs, but there are others on Pond Boss that have and can comment.

Here is the link for their web site in Texas:

http://www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/

Our local NRCS office was invaluable for us in doing our pond. They do both hands-on and classroom pond building, pond management, and dry hydrant seminars that we attended and learned a lot at. One agent loves to do ponds more than anything else and did our overflow pipe, spillway, and other calculations. He showed up all the time during excavation, which was great since it was the first pond for both ourselves and our excavator (no leaks on the dam ever, thanks to Dan Blatter!).

Most are probably good, but some are not. Near the end of the construction of my 3.5 acre pond, I asked NRCS to perform a site survey. They did and said the pond didn't have enough watershed to maintain depth and would never fill up. It filled within a month and has been full for 4 years ever since...except for this summer and its a couple of feet down. If I had listened to them, I wouldn't have a pond today.

the deal is that i really have questions about where the pond should go. we dont want to start it and then it ends up drying each year. also how deep. those are questions that i really need help with. what is the price they charge? how does that work? thanks again everyone.

The service is "free", provided courtesy of the taxpayers of the U.S.A. They normally are interested in controlling erosion problems.

haha! the magic words that i really wanted to here . well thats sounds good though i will call them tomorrow and see what they can do. also thanks again everyone for your great help. i will make sure to stick around and maybe learn something from one of you guys. lol tell next time have a good one

Don't be afraid to uset he NRCS. If worst comes to worst, you can tell them to take a hike and just do it yourself.

On both my ponds, they calculated drainage, surface acres, numbers of fish and advised on what to plant for cover crops. They also hooked me up with local Pheasants Forever chapter who paid for over half the native prairie grass seed.

It was free, and although it took a few years, they eventually found some money for both ponds, 3 years apart. First was a 10 year interest free loan and this latest is 50% cost share...they know where ALL the $$$ is hid away!

so guys i called my local nrcs and they said that they only helped build small ponds. (1/8th) acre or smaller. they did say that i could set up a consultation and that they would send someone to give suggestions on where to put it. atleast there is a start. thanks alot guys.

Does someone know what kind of erosion they are interested in? Like maybe what a pond builder leaves after he is done? We are having big problems with erosion on our pond. maybe I'll just visit their site. Really just wanted to say Howdy to ya'll anyway!!

Heidi Joe

heidi joe,

Howdy to you and welcome to this Forum. It is a great source for info and reading about other folks experiences.

I believe they(NRCS) are primarily interested in erosion caused by natural circumstances, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

I would suggest you start a new post on the Forum, describe your erosion problem, and ask the experts here for suggestions on how to remedy the situation. You will likely get some good advice.

Again welcome and its always good to see another Texan here to keep things in balance.

walboks,

They should have a list of local pond builders too. Good luck - and let us know how the consultation goes.

Gator

I have finally gotten a local contact here as well.
I aim to call him when I find my land, and see what he says.

BD, ask for references. Call and go see. This is a very expensive business transaction.

Not sure I am following you Dave. Ask for his references from other local pond owners, or ask him for references for realtors??? I was going to have (his name is Freddy, he's a soil technician with the NRCS) Freddy come out to the properties I am looking at, have him tell me what he honestly thinks, before I buy any property.
Sorry but I am not following your post.

Sorry BD, I was following Alligators post about getting a list of pond builders and thought you meant you were going to meet with one of them.

No biggie.
On the related topic I called our office here. I am very happy with what I heard!
It will only cost me in this county 75$ for the permit.

They only want the permit they told me quite honestly, to just see you have a plan, and aren't just digging and messing crap up. The guy will come out to the land, survey it, stake it to how big you're wanting, help design the dam, etc.

I now just need to find the land (wife is where we are held up..she wants to be in certain areas etc), have Freddy come look at it, and then I can decide if I want the property or not, and work on lowering the price of the lot lol

If you deal with the NRCS, and I agree that they are good people, just be prepared to deal with the ACoE as well.

walboknls1,
I used the local Soil & Water Conservation people here. It was a free service & they did everything you stated.
Worked out good for me & didn't have to go through any other agency.

When I posted I found a contact that was for (what I originally thought) was my county. I found out the lot is actually in another county, but in my case this works out EVEN better.

Now for this other county there is no permit what so ever, and they obviously still come out and help out....this is one of those times I don't mind paying taxes.

NRCS guy is walking the property right now...pray for me lol

No dice on that lot.
We are still looking, we've got a little while still based on our plan to start building in Jan, and be in (weather permitting) by april.

well as far as the consultation on my pond they said it would be 7-10 days before they would go out there. i guess ill sit tight for now.