I have a pretty decent sized canyon on my property that has a small wet weather creek in it and we are thinking about building a dam and making a 5+ acre pond. I'm guessing with there being the wet weather creek that I'll have to get permission from some government body, do any of you have any experience with this?
Yes, you have to contact NRCS in your county.
They will determine if it interferes with anybody downstream.
There are several options out there to get some assistance building it too.
If you want to manage it for waterfowl, there are programs out there for that, or if for cattle, a different program.
They will determine if it interferes with anybody downstream.
There are several options out there to get some assistance building it too.
If you want to manage it for waterfowl, there are programs out there for that, or if for cattle, a different program.
If you need help with stocking I have access to some quality fish and guidance as to what and when to stock. This is not a joke or come on either.
If the creek doesn't fill the pond, look at a drilling a well and using a solar powered pump. Expensive up front, but free water after that.
There's an old well less than 100 yards from where the pond would be. It hasn't been used in a long time, but was used to fill a stock tank.
You would have to check and see if the pump is still good in the well and try to determine the gallons per minute that the pump is capable of producing. The gpm is simple to calculate, take a 5 gallon bucket and time how long it takes to fill the bucket, then do the math to see the number of gallons/hour and gals/day. When that is determined, you have to decide if the electric cost justifies the volume produced. I am going to tell you right now that the cost does not justify the volume. Runoff can do it a whole lot cheaper.
Yeah, I'd be counting on having to get a new pump, if I did it'd be solar. But even then, if the pond is 5 acres, that pump can be running 24/7 365 and it's not gonna do a whole heckuva lot. As much rain as we get down there, and as big as the canyon/run off area is, it won't take much to fill it. The land is so rocky that water will be trickling through the woods for days after a good rain.
If this pond is ever approved, it'll probably be 40-50' deep.
If this pond is ever approved, it'll probably be 40-50' deep.
And the problem with that is??
If you can go deeper than 40-50 feet, I would highly recommend doing so. It may cost a little more to do so, but the dividends will be well worth it...
David
David
topography and property lines will probably dictate the size of the pond.
