I have a question for the pond experts here. We finished building a half acre pond back in December. It will be about 10 feet deep at the center and has a dam running about 150 feet along one side of it. The pond has been slowly rising with normal rains and snows that we get around here. Last week, though, we received 6 inches of rain over two days and the pond went up around 3 feet! Since then, though, the pond has fallen almost 2 feet. I am hoping this is due to the need for saturating the base and letting the clay soil become "waterproof". Am I right here, or do I have another problem? There is no leakage out of the dam and there are 4 other established ponds on the property. I believe that the clay soil is ideal for pond building, but I just don't understand the dynamics of filling a new pond. Thanks!
New pond question
- Thread starter ytr1903
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MarkV
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I don’t find the 3’ rise unusual, our 5 acre pond rose about 3’ after the drainage basin soil was saturated and we had several 2” rains in a week. The 2’ drop does seem to be a bit much. There is a great pond site at www.pondboss.com with a forum that has some helpful pond professionals that participate. There may be some people there that know your area and soil conditions.
MarkV
MarkV
Tororider
Veteran Member
I was going to recommend pondboss as well. Where are you located? If you put it in your info, there may be some people local to you that can give you localized opinions. Good luck.
builder2
Bronze Member
ytr1903,
We built our pond in solid clay and had a problem like yours after it began to fill.
While there was no evidence of leaking in the bank, we noticed there were bubbles coming to the surface occasionally.
What it turned out to be was old field tile that the excavator had exposed while pushing out the pond with the dozer. He did not dig them out, just cut them and kept on dozing. We ended up locating (2) 4" tiles that had gone thru the pond site. I had my regular excavator come back and dig out the tiles on the bank side and the leak stopped.
I do not know where you are located, but in this area field tile was quite common. Much was installed back in the 30's by the C.C.C.
Clay in the best pond material for a watershed filled type pond. We have about 5 acres draining into our 1/2 acre pond and it will keep pretty full until about the end of August when it is about 1' low until the fall rains fill it to the overflow culvert again.
Occasionally a clay pond will have a vein of sand thru it and this can also cause a pretty good drop in the water level.
Good luck on locating the leak.
Paul
We built our pond in solid clay and had a problem like yours after it began to fill.
While there was no evidence of leaking in the bank, we noticed there were bubbles coming to the surface occasionally.
What it turned out to be was old field tile that the excavator had exposed while pushing out the pond with the dozer. He did not dig them out, just cut them and kept on dozing. We ended up locating (2) 4" tiles that had gone thru the pond site. I had my regular excavator come back and dig out the tiles on the bank side and the leak stopped.
I do not know where you are located, but in this area field tile was quite common. Much was installed back in the 30's by the C.C.C.
Clay in the best pond material for a watershed filled type pond. We have about 5 acres draining into our 1/2 acre pond and it will keep pretty full until about the end of August when it is about 1' low until the fall rains fill it to the overflow culvert again.
Occasionally a clay pond will have a vein of sand thru it and this can also cause a pretty good drop in the water level.
Good luck on locating the leak.
Paul
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
The two foot drop tells me something is wrong. It could be something simple like Builder had, but it could be one of a dozen other issues. Did you hit rock? Was anything done to the soil on the shoreline? Was there a spring or seep along the shoreline? Did you check the bottom or dig the soild from the bottom? Was the dam built from clay taken from the bottom? Was other material brought in to build the dam? Could there be layers of clay that were not mixed? Was there a keyway cut into the dam? Do you have any dead or dying trees nearby? Is there a root system that might have been rotting out under the surface? Are there any animals that might burrogh through the ground? Not just the dam, but along the shoreline?
Many water leaks travel very far distances underground. Some never surface if they get to the water table or a sand/gravel area. One of the hardest things about finding a water leak on pipe lines is to actually find the water coming out of the ground. I've been over pipelines that were loosing thousands of gallons a day and there is no sign of water anywhere. Just because you don't see the water has nothing to do eliminating the leak. Fast dropping water at a certain level tells the story.
Eddie
Many water leaks travel very far distances underground. Some never surface if they get to the water table or a sand/gravel area. One of the hardest things about finding a water leak on pipe lines is to actually find the water coming out of the ground. I've been over pipelines that were loosing thousands of gallons a day and there is no sign of water anywhere. Just because you don't see the water has nothing to do eliminating the leak. Fast dropping water at a certain level tells the story.
Eddie
meadowlarkponds
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I agree w/Eddie that a 2 foot drop is something to be concerned about. New ponds will gradually absorb a certain amount of water while filling but 2 feet is much more than I've normally experienced.
My advice would be to do nothing for awhile except observe carefully the dynamics of the situation. After a few months, if you continue to experience rapid drops to about the same water line, then that would be good indication of a leak. If you can tolerate the leak, then press on, otherwise, you may be looking at the possibility of a major repair.
My advice would be to do nothing for awhile except observe carefully the dynamics of the situation. After a few months, if you continue to experience rapid drops to about the same water line, then that would be good indication of a leak. If you can tolerate the leak, then press on, otherwise, you may be looking at the possibility of a major repair.
Thanks so much for the replies. I took some of your advise and logged onto pondboss.com. What a site for ponds! Anyway, the experts over there seem to think that this "could" be a normal situation. We have been in a drought for awhile and the clay that we used for the dam was dry as a bone when we dug it out. For the moment, I am going to take their advise and meadowlarkponds advise. Be patient, but be vigilant. The water level has stabilized and now covers the entire bottom of the pond with about 1 foot of water. I will keep my fingers crossed. Thanks again for everyone's help and I will keep this thread alive as time progresses.
