Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Leaking Point to Ponder......

Hmmmm, Have a dilemma and would like some input please.......

I have remodeled a pond that was leaking by knocking out the old 30yrs old levee and re-built it further down in the holler essentially damming up a spring head that was NOT a blue line creek. Was told by most in the area that I would be able to get by without consulting with the state and pulling 10k permits. So I proceeded........Now I am dealing with what appears to be spring heads popping up within my embankment and I am trying to figure out if I should pull in a professional consultant/engineer to get some feedback on what some of my most viable options would be. MY concern of course is "waking up a sleeping dog" and pulling in someone that turns around and reports me even though I feel I would have plenty of led to stand on if I had to fight it based on the above mentioned circumstances. The "country-boy farmer" man that built the pond has a good reputation and appears to have built a solid 30ft high dam 100 ft across at the bottom. But he doesn't seem to have the right options for my problem on the back side and I really can't complete the project by adding more dirt to ongoing running water out the back side embankment of dam. Otherwise the pond seems to be holding water quite well.

If the levee wasn't leaking when the pond was built, it's unfortunate that you didn't just repair the leaking levee in the same spot.

Springs in the pond basin don't have a "one way" valve on them, so if water pressure in the pond basin exceeds the underground water pressure, then water flows the opposite way.

If the pond is holding water, and the water is running out of the levee on the back side, is the core trench in front (pond side) of the spring?

Titan, what equipment did the "farmer" use to build the Dam? Was it core trenched to good, solid clay the entire length of the berm? Was it only compacted using a dozer or loader tracks? As esshup asked, is it otherwise holding water?

Sorry for the delay here.....it is otherwise holding water and it was essential packed with a dozer only. Builder claims he built the core thick and well enough to last for 100 yrs he was confident. It appears the leak is only coming from the backside from spring head in embankment. I am going to have excavator channel it back out on the backside as we have not finished that part of the dam and put in some 3/4 rock with creek gravel on top and fabric and cover up and hope for the best.

That plan is bound for failure sorry to say..