Hello All,
This is my first post. My wife and I are looking for help in the beginning stages of pond design and cost. In our backyard our vision is to have a 1300 Sq ft swimming pond with Koi, and a 700 Sq ft wetland filter using the aquascape centipede system. We don't want to use a synthetic liner and hope to use bentonite clay. One reason for this is so it's more natural. But the main reason is we have lots of moles and voles in our yard and I can see them making all kinds of holes in rubber liner in no time at all. We also hope to have a smaller pea gravel beach area for people to walk in and out. Here are some of my questions that I've searched and can't find answers to.

1- I know I can physically pour pea gravel on top of the clay but I would assume when someone walks on it the gravel it would be pushed down below the clay so eventually all the clay would be on top again? Does anyone have experience with a clay liner and trying to make a beach like area?

2- I've found geosynthetic clay liners which sorta defeats the "using something natural idea". It's half and half natural. I can find videos of people installing this and the liner is a white color. I can't find how this looks or feels once water is on it. I assume it expands out? Does it stay white? Or does the synthetic part keep the clay inside? If it keeps the clay inside more then I could see this being easier to lay pea gravel on top of it maybe the gravel staying on top. Not sure of this theory since I can't find how it reacts once water is on it? Anyone with experience on the geosynthetic clay liners?

3- I can find all kinds of videos of wetland filters using rubber liners but none on a clay lined wetland area. I would assume you would put down the clay, then gravel (if it wouldn't just push down through the clay), then the aquascape centipede system, then the layers of rocks. Like with the beach question from #1, I'm afraid that the rock weight on top of the centipede system would push it down into the clay liner and clog it with clay. Anyone made a wetland filter using a clay liner?

4- If we use bentonite clay then we can't do steep pond walls due to the clay overtime would slide down the walls. Lastly we don't want to spend money on tons of large rocks around the sides of the swimming pond. What other options could we use for a natural looking border?

5- If we did go with rubber liner, is there something that we could put under the rubber liner to stop moles and voles from chewing through it?

6- Lastly, the wetland filter is just going to spill over into the swimming pond. I would assume there would be about 20 feet length where the wetland spills into the swimming pond. I envisioned making a wooden deck/bridge/walkway that spans over that area. With a clay liner I can make concrete piers into the clay bottom to support the deck/bridge/walkway. With a rubber liner I couldn't put the piers into the ground and I would have to use something like the precasted concrete on ground deck block for supporting the deck. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any help or ideas. This is my first diy pond project and am excited to get digging. Thanks Mike