NEfish, the wetland experts will also frown upon having cattails in your area, I'm guessing a number of pond miesters on here will frown on it too as cattails have a tendency to fill in a pond over time. A good person to talk to in your area would be Bill Whitney with the Prairie Plains Insitute, he could probably make some suggestions on native plants to your area that would be less invasive and still help control shoreline erosion, native plants would probably be a better attractor for waterfowl. I know Bill has been a big help to my little brother over the last several years. As side note I could check with my little brother about getting some seed stock from his wetland to plant around your new pond. He lives 12-15 miles south of Sutton and Nedoc also knows my bothers wife. ;\)