I have a 1 year old 1/2 acre pond avg depth 5ft and max depth 15ft. Has a good clay/shell liner since there is no shortage here in Oklahoma. The only place where the clay barrier would be questionable would be on top of the dam. The reason why I say this is because the excavator removed all of the top soil before the pond was dug and then moved it back over the top of the dam when he was done. This was real nice since I had grass almost completly covering it within a month or so. Ok...here is my issue...It filled within 15'' of the bottom of the drain pipe (within 36'' of the top of the dam) and then started going down at about 1/4'' per day. Now it has been hard to tell what is going on beacuse of the rainfall but I have notice small mud puddles in the ditch behind the dam on 'dry days'. The water in the mud puddles is not moving but seems to be coming from the pond and I can't see where it is coming from, it is just there. I can't see how the water would go from the pond to the ditch without running down the sides of the dam. And the ditch is in a area that was not excavated.

What to do about the leak? Wait and see if it seals itself?

Also, I want to add some gypsum to clear the water but I'm afraid that it might keep the leak from sealing itself. Should I go ahead and put the gysum in or fix the leak first or does it not matter?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.