Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions New Pond September 2003

I had a new run off pond constructed in September 2003 and it is about .75 of an acre. It drains about 12 acres. The deepest part is about 12-13 feet. My pond is located in northeast Iowa and when it was constructed we were in the middle of about a four month drought. Before the frost came out of the ground we got about an inch of rain on top of a foot of snow that just about filled my pond. When the frost went out, so did my pond relatively quickly. We have had four inches of rain in the last 3-4 weeks and my pond is about a quarter to a third full. I am sure the ground has absorbed a lot of moisture. Will it take awhile for the soil to saturate and my pond to gain in depth or does it sound like I am losing water? I haven't noticed any leaks and I had the botton lined very well with blue clay. Any suggestions? Should I just be patient?

We have a new 1 1/2 acre pond. It was also finished in 2003 and filled by labor day. Has been full ever since with significant run off.

My guess is that you must have some leakage.

You might have a construction timing problem. The clay has to have some moisture in it before it will pack. The sandy loam also needs moisture. Following a 4 month drought is no time to dig a hole and be sure it will hold water.

Anything that goes down that rapidly sounds like a serious leak. Why did you line the bottom with clay? Were you covering sand or rocks? Since you say you can't find a leak, I assume you are talking about at the dam. Sounds like it is leaking out the bottom or possibly a sandy or rocky place on the side. If so, you will have to drain it and start over. I think I would get the contractor back out and ask some pointed questions. He should have known better(IMHO).

If I am leaking out the bottom, can something like that be fixed by simply lining the bottom with better clay? The soil in this part of iowa is pourous in places and my pond location had some pourous soils (sandstone-rock)that showed up when we did the core samples. They were mostly 2 feet beyond the clay. When the escavation started we found a lot of blue clay that we borrowed for the dam and core trench. I told the contractor that we might as well be safe and just line the bottom with clay also, being that we had plenty available, so that is what he did. We had ten inches of rain in the last two weeks and my pond is about half full. It is not as full as it was after the thaw, so I am assuming I am loosing water through the bottom. Any chance it will seal over time with organic materials?

I guess it is possible that it will seal with organic materials but I've never actually talked to anyone who did it. If you have porous soils you might have to go with a liner or put down more clay. At the rate it is leaking, it ought to be dry in the summer. Then you can figure out where the leak is and what to do about it. I'm also not a pro; just doing the math.

I'm in southwest Louisiana and have completely different soils, but here is what I was told by a trackhoe owner/operator who digs pond all year long. "If you cut into a "sand" you better know if it will sustain the water level in your pond all year long!" You may have encounter a water table that is controlling the level of your pond. My suggestion is mark the water level,pump it down, and see if it rises back to the old level without any rain runoff. With the amount of area that you have running into your pond it should have overflowed many times. If it does refill without any rain then you should be able to find the spot where the water is seeping in and out and cap it with more clay. Good hole hunting!!

I'm in southwest Louisiana and have completely different soils, but here is what I was told by a trackhoe owner/operator who digs pond all year long. "If you cut into a "sand" you better know if it will sustain the water level in your pond all year long!" You may have encounter a water table that is controlling the level of your pond. My suggestion is mark the water level,pump it down, and see if it rises back to the old level without any rain runoff. With the amount of area that you have running into your pond it should have overflowed many times. If it does refill without any rain then you should be able to find the spot where the water is seeping in and out and cap it with more clay. Good hole hunting!!

hello dahanso, just was wondering how much
the contractor charged you to line your pond with blue clay, how thick is the layer of clay? My pond is the same size as your. My contactor told me it would be about 20,000 for the clay,that 200 dump truck loads, 2000 yards. its about 100 per dump truck. The contractor said that would give me about 2foot thick for a liner.
thanks budman

The cost was about $800.00. It inexpensive, because my contractor was able to borrow the clay from an area that was close to my pond. It seems like $20,000.00 is pretty spendy, but to hall it in I suppose it can add up. Is there any chance you have clay that can be borrowed from nearby?

Hello Dahanso, thanks for the quick reply. The closest blue clay i can get is about 1mile away at a friends place. 200 dump trucks is what cost so much it seems, the clay is free. how thick of a layer of clay did your contractor put into your pond. Any other ideals, other then a linner.
thanks bud