Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Watershed in North MS needs help

Hello everyone, I am a new member and I thought I would introduce my self and tell you the main reason I joined the forum. I recently purchased a piece of property with a 13 acre watershed lake on it. To my knowledge, the lake was built about 30 to 40 years ago and over that time it has silted in. At the dam it is about 7 feet deep and it quickly becomes shallow from there. It is overrun with grass and beaver dams block the creek in the back creating another pool. My question to you is this... What would be the correct process of going about the rejuvination of this lake? If i plan on digging it deeper, will I need to take soil samples? The lake has the potiental of gaining up to 50% of its size with the right work. Just looking for some info...
Thanks for looking.

I would start by looking at historical aerial imagery on Google Earth. The imagery is dated, so you can look back at the rainfall amounts the year of the image (ie. was it a dry year? If it was dry how did the pond hold up, was it dry or full).

Next I would ask the oldest guy around that has been around the pond throughout its life. Kinda like doing a floodstudy...........do all the surveying and computer modeling you want, then go ask the oldest person around how high the river has gotten in their life.

Looking at the above items can tell you about the existing pond, however if you are making it bigger, you may want some soil testing, or have a qualified contractor to come out and dig some test holes in the area you are expanding into.

Welcome to PB.

Your location gets plenty of rain. What is the watershed like - size ? Hills , flat - what part of the county - delta or hills?

That will make a big difference on the soil type. Soil samples are easy and inexpensive. Check with your county agent for forms and how to instructions. Be sure they know it is for pond purposes.

Will draining the lake be easy (do you have a water control system - pipe through the dam)? Do you want to save the fish by trying to deepen by track hoe or dragline ? The main cost is going to be deepening the lake (renovation).

It is about 13 to 15 acres in size and it is located on the edge of where the hills meet a large tillable bottom that was in soybeans. There is a creek that is drains into year round. There are several springs uphill from the lake that feed it even in the dryest days of summer. I have lived around the property all my life and just about a year ago I had an opportunity to buy it. It will be really easy to drain becasue it has a valve at the bottom of the spillway that can be opened and the water will flow through the dam via the pipe. The spillway was renovated about 5 years ago so I know that the valve is in good working order. Up stream of the lake is a marshie area which was orginally part of the lake. It has just silted in that much. I know that the most expensive part of the project will be the excavation of the dirt but it will be good to put in my fields below the dam. I can show you a pic of it from bing maps. What would be the easiest way to post a birdseye view of the lake on here?

You're right about the excavation problems. The bottom often has the consistency of pudding.

How will you stop the water inflow from the creek/springs?

A coffer dam may be needed.

Alva,

You are going to have to drain the lake and let it dry out some. It may take longer and you may have some areas that never dry out enough to run equipment on due to the springs. If you are just planning on excavating the shallow water, you are looking at a track hoe, dozer, and dump truck as the quickest way. Wet dirt will slow you down and drive up cost considerably. When I renovate ponds for people I try to find a way to both excavate silted in areas and raise the existing levee. This usually requires less dirt moving and lowers the cost, although it is not possible in all situations. I also lay out a design for the excavator so that structure is left behind in the pond rather than a smooth bottom; the fish will thank you later. This is a good time also to put fish habitat and cover in the pond bottom. Make sure you get a contractor that has experience and a good reputation building ponds.

-HH

When I drain it, I plan on letting it lay out for a year or so. That will give it time to fully dry out. The levee on the lake is 15 feet higher than where the concrete spillway allows the water to drain from. I thought about just adding several feet to the spillway to make it higher when I do all of the other work. Are there any rules dealing with a watershed built by the government 40 years ago? I definatly will put structure in it before I start letting it fill back up. I plan on doing plenty of research on that topic when the time comes. I am just trying to get a gameplan together.

[img][IMG]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y348/jwray29/lake.jpg[/img][/img]
Here is a pic of the lake

There was a good article in PB a few months ago in PB about some of those very questions. When you make the pond deeper, there is more pressure at the bottom, which could potentially create a leak where there was none now due to the extra pressure.

I'd talk to the guys at NRCS.

Is the plan to renovate the entire bottom or just dig out the shallow areas? There is a big difference. One way you lose all your fish the other you don't. You may be able to dig out the shallow area and do some work along the dam to deepen that area without draining the lake all the way.

Eric, I have a dug-out pond (no dam) and I renovated the whole bottom without losing any fish. It was a 2 step process, drain the pond so the water and fish were concentrated in the deepest area, make a coffer dam to isolate that area. Dig the shallower area deeper than the current deep end, braek coffer dam. When water and fish flushed to the new deeper end, I was able to clean out the other end of the pond - now the previously deep end is the shallower end of the pond. I think I only lost one 9" BG during the process.

Alva,

If I understand you right, you have 15 foot of dirt above your overflow? That is a heck of a lot of free-board. I wonder why. Government projects are notorious for overbuilding but that seems extreme. I would check with my local county USDA soil conservation office to find out why your watershed requires such a levee. It will not cost you anything and you can probably get someone to come out. I have a hard time envisioning your pond's design from the picture. Is there a creek that flows through it? Does water flow through a pipe out the bottom? If there are no special circumstances, it sounds like you could raise your overflow and not have to excavate anything if all you want is to gain depth. Of course, that does nothing to improve fish habitat or the fish population. I would suggest getting a professional pond builder no matter how you go.

-HH

HH,

I do plan on getting my local NRCS rep. out to the pond to take a look at it. I am out of town right now and when I get home I will take some actual photos of the levee to help with my explantions. The lake gets its water from runoff from the surrounding areas north of it. It actually isn't a creek that runs through it. But, due to the springs in the hills, it does run pretty much year round. The water flows through a pipe that goes through the bottom of the levee via a concrete overflow about 10 to 15 feet out from the edge of the levee. I am a little concerned about raising the height of the spillway because of the flash flood rains. During heavy rains, the lake can gain about 40% more of its size. I guess that is why there is so much of the levee out of the water. When I get home, I plan on asking the NRCS rep. many of these same questions. What do you think would be an ideal year around depth for largemouths at the levee (the deepest part)? I am thinking about the future layout and structure of the lake now.

See the structure archive for ideas and info.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Depending on time of year all depths are useable by LMB.

From the pic you posted it looks like you can do most of the work without draining the lake but instead by lowering the level about 5 feet. By using ridges and coffer dams you can do a lot.

Alva,

It's not about having the right depth in the deepest portion, it's about having too much shallow water in your case. Shallow water can dry up and become uninhabitable in the hot summer months and can become a overrun with undesired aquatic vegetation. If the levee was built to proper spec with regard to an emergency spillway for the watershed and rainfall tendencies for your location it should be able to handle the floods you describe. This still should allow for you to add depth by adding on to the drain structure, if I understand your situation correctly. Getting someone knowledgeable on the ground to better understand the watershed you have will be key to making the proper decisions about how to proceed.

-HH