Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site "Canal" Added to Pond- Pros and Cons

I presently have a 9' deep pond 1 year old that is a little over 1/3 acre. It is supplied by runoff from around 20 acres of no-till farmland and the input can be regulated by myself. The pond is essentially a borrow pit (no dam) with side ranging from 2.5:1 to 1:1.

The "input" is on the top left side of the pond. The right side of the pond adjoins 3 acres m/l of woods. I am considering adding a 500' "canal" loop through the woods that leaves the pond near the top right and reenters at the bottom right. The depth would be 3-6' and it would be from 15-20' wide. The side slopes would range from 1:1 to 2:1. IF I did this, the pond overflow would be moved to the bottom right of the canal thus allowing some circulation through the canal.

This would add to the very limited spawning areas in the existing pond and provide for "recreational" pedal boating areas.

Is there anything I should consider about adding this enviroment to the existing pond? The soil is good old hard SW IND clay; no rocks and no sand.

Thanks.

Here is what I am thinking...

1. Would it increase the amount of organic material in the pond due to the leaves from the trees?

2. Would the low slope get choked up with weeds?

3. Would this contribute to stale/stagnant water that would hurt overall water quality?

Somebody will chime in with more knowledge than me shortly.

Thanks for the thoughts, ezylman. They echo some of mine.

1. No question many leaves would end up at the bottom.
2. Shouldn't be a problem as sides will be very steep; mostly 1:1 or 1.5:1.
3. Wondering about this also. Don't want to make a mosquito pit or to cause "bad water" to migrate into the main pond.

The proposed canal (fancy name for a ditch) area will receive very little sunlight.

FWIW, the pond is primarily for "looking at" and playing on. Although I am in the process of stocking it with blue gill, channel cat and bass, fishing is not a primary interest. I don't want to do anything to kill it but "ideal conditions" are not a necessity.

Wiley C

Welcome to the site. The picture of a canal threw the woods with a paddle boat floating along under the shade of tall trees sounds great I love it.

It would seem like a good bit of planing will be needed to get this right.

How does the ground lay?
Have you be able to survey the best place to have the the channel?

A dirt job in a lot of trees means lots of trees need to be moved. Where are you going to put the dirt that comes out of the canal.

This will really be fun but get the details worked out first.

Otto

Thanks, Otto.

Yeah, the logistics aren't pleasant. It would be a very time consuming project as getting the dirt out will have to be essentially a yard at a time. I have 5 acres so there is room to "waste" a lot of it; just moving it will be a pain. I'm guessing it will be somewhere around 1,000 yds m/l.

The elevation change will be less than 2' over the entire path and consistent with the existing pond full level at the low point. No trees larger than about 6" would have to come out; maples and sassafras.

I haven't mapped out the exact path yet as I still have concerns about problems caused by leaves building up in the bottom over time. I honestly don't know enough about it to have an opinion on the effects.

The other concern is stagnation. As previously mentiond, the overflow would be at one end of this causing some circulation but very sporadic. Guess I could leave one end that abuts the existing pond closed and pump a few thousand gallons across that point every day:-)

The whole idea may be "cool" and totally unadvisable which is why I am asking questions before getting too worked up about it. "Engineering & Logistics" expenses to this point amount to a 12-pack.

A small (.5 HP) submersible pump in the canal set on a timer for about 6 hours a day would probably solve the stagnation. You could point the discharge to be just in the beginning of the canal to create a clockwise rotation. At a 20' width you could get quite a swirl/lazy river effect going. And a small, bottom diffused, aerator would eliminate any leaf debris concerns right away too.

On a safety note, those sides are pretty sttep if someone falls in and has to get out fast. A 5-6' depth would be better at preventing weeds.

Hi,

Once again technology rules...

Mike Otto wanted me to let everyone on the forum know that he has had a major crash in his email system and webpage server and he can't use either at this time. He is working furiously to try and correct the problem and will be back on the forum as soon as he can. You can contact Mike at the office 1-940-665-2258 or 800-882-3478 from 8 am- 12 noon, Mon-Fri.

Kathy
Pond Boss Magazine
Office Manager

Kathy, please be careful how you word things, my heart rate jumped when I started reading your post.

I figure it's close to 1,500 yards that you will have to dig. I dug and moved 200 yards on Saturday with my backhoe and 5 yard dumptruck, and that's about as good as it gets for me with what I have. I've had many 100 yard days too, but even at that rate, 1,500 yards is just half a month of easy work.

What are you going to use to dig and move the dirt with?

I think the best thing about a canal would be a bridge over it. Paddling up and down the same canal doesn't have allot of apeal, but a nice walking trail along it and some cool sitting areas sure sounds nice.

Eddie