Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Heavy Clay Content

Hello,

I've been in the planning phase for a 3-4 acre, 8-12 feet deep pond for a little while now. I just bought my crawler loader and backhoe. I dug a 5 foot hole and 20 minutes later, there was a foot of water in the bottom of the whole. My question is, is it possible to dig a pond this size when I will keep having water rising up and making lots of mud. THe soil is dark grey clay and looks like pure clay. I have 0 top soil. Any suggestions. Also, the area that I want to excavate is currently, a duck swampy area that is around 10" deep. Do I drain all that, then get started?

Thanks
Rob

Careful that you are not digging in a wetland. The fines could break you.

Yes I have already checked with all the proper offices and gave them my tax ID number and was told I was clear.

You might have to dig a deep hole, and put a pump in it to keep the surrounding soil dry while you dig. If there is water coming into the hole, then you most likely have soil/dirt that will need compacting before the pond will hold water. If you don't, there's a good possibility that you'll end up with a groundwater pond, which is at the mercy of the groundwater level. I have one, and it can fluctuate 6' in water depth. I've lost about 8" of water depth in the past 3 weeks.

Is this the only spot you can use?

Well I have 35 acres, but the entire lot is the same soil and as flat as can be. It is a hay field.

You might try to terrace the land to get run off. Other than that you will have a strictly ground water pond like Dwight and Esshup. It can be a viable pond once finished. How much does the ground water level drop in the drier months? You might be well advised to wait until whenever qualifies, in your area, as summer.

We certainly don't have that problem in North Texas.