Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Is caliche a good pond liner?

I recently purchased property in Central Texas (San Saba County) that has a dry two acre pond, which doesn’t overly concern me because most ponds in Texas are drying up right now. The family I purchased the property from wasn’t much help in conveying a history of the pond, but area old timers tell me it didn’t hold water very well. The pond is more or less dug out of black dirt and old aerials of the property show it full of water.

Being an optimist, I assume it will rain again and figure now is a good time to work on the pond. I have a dozer, tractor/bucket and caliche on the property. I am considering digging the pond out and then lining the bottom with caliche as this would be very inexpensive.

Is this a good idea? I know clay is preferred to line a pond but will caliche work? The caliche I'm describing is limestone based that when compacted is about as hard as concrete, but I don't know what it will do when it's under water.

While I may put some fish in the pond, my primary goal is to have a reliable water source for livestock and wildlife. I ultimely plan to reestablish a nearby well had have a solar pump run water into the pond.

Some caliche works well. Some doesn't.
Fill a glass jar with crushed caliche and add water. See if it swells and see how long it takes for the water to go all the way to the bottom.
Better yet, get a sample and send to a soils lab to check for plasticity and clay content.