Update:
So I got to come home this weekend to see my pond for the first time. Just wanted to share because Im so excited. Some of the before pics are on the previous page. The pond filled to its current level just five days after the dry pics.
This is from the backwater looking to the dam, and I could not fit all the pond into the pic
This is from the dam looking back to where the first picture was taken. Once again its not all in the pic.
Some of hundreds of crawdads that have washed up dead, I dont know why. Should this worry me? The pasture that is now the pond had them in it naturally so maybe it just flooded them out.
But you cant hold mother nature back here are some brand new crawdad holes at the waters edge.
This is the most northern end of the pond. This pic was not even taken on my property. Thankfully the other two owners that were affected were happy to have more water on their land. The second fence is the start of my land. The posts are 12ft apart and I dont know if you can see them but there are 12 in water so the tail of the pond is over 144ft wide and a good 4ft deep.
This last pic is just thrown in haha
Some other intresting observations:
There have been 5-10 horses on this 80 acre plot of land year round for the last 20 years. All the horse manure on the groud where the pond now is all floated up and out on the side of the pond. Let me tell you there is now one big pile of manure on the side of the pond, but it is out of the water.
There is a slight odor about the pond espically in the more shallow parts but I think this is normal. Also some will evaporate soon. The water by the dam already seems to be rather clear, probably 10in clarity. I think this will get better as time goes by, also I hope it will take a more green tint soon. But we have buit cattle ponds only a mile away and they have never been anything but muddy, ponds with redish water. So I am happy that the water is the way it is.
I also found a small fish (under 3in) dead, it had been dead awhile but I took it to be a HBG, so that tells me some fish were washed in from somewhere. I dont know why he was dead. So maybe any other fish that washed in are dead now also. I tried to take a pic of the fish but it didnt come out. Ill go back with a dieffernt camera and if I can find the fish will try to take another picture.
Possibly the old manure and new water could have became toxic somehow and killed the fish. In the shallow grassy areas there is a slight oily looking film on just a little of the water. I know of other ponds in my area that have fish populations and the same film/grass around the pond so Im not worried. Good or bad the film is being pushed to the tail end of the pond by the southern winds. So I think this is a good thing.
There are already many ducks, birds, and deer, that have found the pond. The small beetles that swim in circles have also made it home. Also numerous small underwater inscets are easily seen, which I take to be potential CNBG food.
If I think of or see anything else Ill be sure to post. I plan to go back after some football games and take my swimming pool test strips to get a rough Ph estimate.
