Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New Member, New Pond Owner - East Texas

Right. Blink and you miss it.

Congrats on your new property. Welcome to Pond Boss. As I'm sure you already know, that many acres in Union Valley is going to be worth a fortune down the road as the urban sprawl continues. I wish we were in Union Valley. That would take about 30 mins off our drive each way. We pass right by there every weekend on 276. Southern Junction Steaks and Dancin, Matt's Tex Mex, and Sweetwater Grill are practically in your backyard.

Thanks. I spoke with one of the neighbors right after we bought the property. He said many of the people that live right around the property were concerned that a developer would buy the land and turn it into a neighborhood. He was very pleased to hear that a married couple with 5 children bought it with no intentions to do anything other than build a house and create our own little oasis. The area is perfect for us - close enough to DFW but far enough out and in an area that feels 'country'.

We've already been to Matt's and Sweetwater a few times (we currently live about 2 miles from the property right in the middle of Union Valley). At least it'll be a short drive when we move.

Welcome to Pond Boss posting.

I met with a pond guy this past weekend. Two of the three dams are definitely in need of repair / rehab but neither are in any imminent danger of failing. We discussed options from the simplest repair (not actually simple) to the more extravagant combination of two ponds into a 7-8 acre lake. All, of course, depend how much $$$ my wife and I want to spend.

With our plans to start construction on our new house and shop ASAP, the ponds will take a back seat for the time being. After our house is built and we sell our current home, we'll tackle the ponds.

That will give you plenty of time to think about what your goals are for the pond(s), to plan and get all the materials in place so they can be ready to go in as soon as the dirt work is done. Plan out the bottom contour, figure out where the fish cover will go, what species of fish, etc., etc. Plan ahead, do it once and do it right.

The three ponds show up on USGS imagery from the late 50's or early 60's so they've been around for at least 60 years.

Chris...I am sure you have considered this, but shouldn't you get at least your long term pond plan down before you build a house? If you leave the ponds separate or end up combining them into one large pond wouldn't those decisions play a part in where you locate the house?

Excellent point and the house location is still up for discussion.

If we combine two ponds into one lake. the lake will be positioned in the back 1/3 of the property. I'm not super keen on placing the house 1,200+ feet away from the street so the house is next to the lake. That's a lot of driveway and fencing (we'll be running cattle on the property) and the driveway would split the property in half.

This image shows what I'm currently thinking for the house location but this is still very much an ongoing discussion. I also showed a rough outline for the three existing ponds and a very loose idea of what a combined lake could look like. The pond on the right likely will not change, other than possibly making it deeper some day.

For a scale reference, the property is almost exactly 2,000 feet long in the east/west direction. The house in this image is located 450' feet from the street and 350-375 feet from either neighboring house.

With running cattle on the property, you really, really should keep the cattle fenced out of the ponds since the smaller pond feeds those two other ponds. The cattle disrupt the banks (which isn't the biggest problem) but the biggest problem is the pee and poop that they will introduce to the ponds, as well as the sediment that they will stir up as they walk in the water. All those will transfer to the big pond and will make maintaining it very difficult.

Understood and agreed. I've already discussed with my wife the need to fence off the two ponds on the west (or the combined lake if we go that route) and keep them separate from the cattle. The pond dams are all damaged to the point of needing significant repair - as a result of cattle traffic. The smaller pond on the top right has two overflows - one into the other two ponds and one into a low draw that runs due south of the pond. I plan to eliminate the west overflow so that pond cannot flow into the other two and will keep that pond for cattle watering. The other two will be the fisheries.

Might look into alternative watering for the cattle that will keep nutrients from leaving your place.

https://www.agproud.com/articles/53396-frost-free-nose-pump-allows-cattle-to-pump-own-water

That's clever! I've considered installing a well for cattle watering or other random use on the property but it depends how much it would cost. I have to be careful not to spend $50k setting up to raise cattle that are really more of a hobby than trying to generate income (and save $15k annually on property taxes).

You can hook nose waterers up to your pond.

Chris, I used to mess with cows to get an Ag Exemption. Then Tx added the wildlife exemption so I now look for the well being of the land and wildlife. No fences to keep up, no calving problems; just worry about the welfare of deer, rabbits, coons, turkeys, etc. No more deer feeders wrecked by cows and horses. Like livestock, I file an annual report and get the same tax breaks.

Without an exemption, the taxes are like a luxury tax.

That's good to know. Our realtor explained how he manages his ranch - much larger than ours - for tax exemptions without livestock as well. Fortunately our property is already fenced (there's an active cattle lease on the property now) so that part is taken care of. We always buy our beef from local sources or a close friend that raises beef cattle so we figure we'll give it a go for ourselves. But we're talking 8-10 head most likely.

If your property is wooded and has a ag exemption you can switch to a timber exemption and have less headaches
And no paperwork

We have a timber exemption too. We lease a pasture, and raise hay. We only need a check or two to confirm what we do.

Round bermuda bales are at or over $100 right now, and raising cows is pricey. Diesel's up, lime's up, fertilizer is really up, and of course there's army worm's that will wipe out a pasture in a few days if not immediately sprayed with a insecticide cocktail.

I talked to a buddy in Oklahoma and their grass hay is now going for $200/round bale. .

$200 wow