Steve, did they dig test holes to see how for down you have to go to get to your clay and how deep it goes? I assume you plan to get the dirt for the dam out of the bowl area? How far do you think you'll have to move the dirt? That can make a big difference. Some of my dirt came from about 300' away and we ran out of dirt to hit our goal of a 26' tall dam and settled for 21'. You will be surprised at how much dirt it takes.
No test holes, but the entire area is pretty much all clay. Yes, the plan is to use dirt from the bowl and surrounding sides to build the dam. From north to south, the pond will be about 180' long, so that would be the max distance the dirt would need to be moved. I've heard it takes a lot of dirt, but the end of the pond furthest away from the proposed dam location is very shallow, and I know the sides can be widened quite a bit. A lot of dirt can be pulled from those locations. Worst case scenario, I'm left with a smaller pond, which isn't the end of the world. I just want a hole with water in it to raise some Blue Cats, and possibly get into a small scale aquaculture business. "Blue Cats by Mail" is an idea I've ran through my head.
