pond dam

[twinstackram]

the property that we bought has a 1 acre pond,water for the pond comes in from road runoff and the slope of the ground,my question is that this pond don't have a dam,it was made from a ravine,when the pond gets to a certain point it just seeps or slowly runs off the end,I was thinking about building up the end that seeps and runs over with 3 or 4 feet of dirt with a drain,to raise the level of the pond,the pond is in great shape as it don't get any algae or anything like this on the surface,will damming the end up mess with the natural flow and cause my pond to get all messed up?sorry about the long post but I'm a first timer with dealing with taking care of ponds.

 

[Henro]

twinstackram,

I look forward to hearing answers from those who may know a lot more than I do.

My GUESS is that raising the level of your pond would not hurt anything.

I do know that with my pond, having some "pet" geese, it is never clear. Once, years ago, when a neighbor's dogs killed our geese, I was amazed at how quickly the pond cleared. Seems that geese keep the bottom stirred up somehow.

Myself, I would not be too afraid of increasing the debth of the pond. Maybe someone else can give some more specific pointers on what to do.

A shallow pond would run warmer in summer and also allow more light in, both possibly encouraging things to grow up from the bottom...

If I had two choices, that is, to make my pond deeper or shallower, there is only one way I would go...DEEPER!

OK...now you guys that REALLY know, please speak up! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Dargo]

Hello fellow Hoosier! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I think you would need the services of a hydrologist to accurately answer your question. I have built a few ponds, including my own, but there are a huge number of variables for what you are asking to be correctly answered. Just to give you an idea, here are a few important variables that would need to be taken into consideration to properly answer your question: the type of soil you have, the width of your dam at the base, the width of your dam at the top, whether the construction of your dam used the same soil as the surrounding soil (was your soil trucked in?), the current depth of water at your dam, the proposed depth of water against your dam, (to calculate the pressure currently exerted against your dam vs the pressure that will be exerted against it with a higher water level) how old is your dam, was your dam constructed with a keyway, what is down hill from your dam, etc.

Without knowing all of those variables and more, I wouldn't want to dispense any advice as to raising the level of your pond. It likely would be okay, but there are lots of possible issues. As far as the actual water goes, generally the deeper the water, the less problems. In general, sunlight has the greatest affect on the portion of your pond that is less than 3 feet deep. With sunlight, you get all sorts of growth. Not all bad, but certainly not all good.

 

[twinstackram]

what I was wanting to do is take out the briar bushes (posted in another post) out and where I took the briar bushes out take dirt from that area and put where the water runs off,by doing this making a "real" dam and raising the water level. I wish I had a digital camera so I could actually show you guys what I'm talking about.

 

[twinstackram]

Henro, don't have any pet geese to worry about but I do have a pet black lab that I thought would like it,but he just wades around.

 

[Dargo]

Yes, without a picture, it's hard to imagine what you are wanting to do. I just wanted to be careful about what I suggested since I've built ponds in Indiana before and have run across numerous issues with the state and federal regulations. In Indiana, you could even be responsible for changing the natural (existing) water flow down stream from you just by changing your pond. For example, someone could claim that the amount of water they normally got during the summer was changed by you raising the level of your pond (even though the water flow would be exactly the same once your pond reached the new level) and hold you responsible. Don't ask me why I know that. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Anyway, without knowing more, I think people are hesitant to make suggestions for the reasons I mentioned. You wouldn't think there is so much potential liability and so many potential variables to simply making a change in a pone, but there are.

 

[twinstackram]

dargo, I don't have to worry about the flow of water not going where it used to go because it just runs off the end or it seeps,the people we bought it from actually put chicken wire across the end where it "seeps" to keep the fish in,one reason for wanting to raise or actually make a dam to get rid of the chicken wire(fish pen),and also making it where you can walk around the end of the pond to the other side,plus getting the full use of the ravine/pond

 

[PineRidge]

I had a neighbor put a pond in about 2 years ago. A friend of his came in with a dozer and started moving dirt one day and shortly after it was finished. No engineering, no core trench, no emergency spillway, no compacting of the soil, just dirt cheap and quick. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Now this pond is about 3 acres worth of deep water and with the amount of water that flows into this pond the overflow can't keep up with it at times so the water always breeches over the top of the dam. To make matters worse since the dam was never keyed into the earth the water seeps under the dam as well. Quite frankly it's an accident looking for a place to happen.

All the neighbors have bet as to how long it's going to take, as sooner or later the dam will let go. The unfortunate part of this is that there is a brand new house in the ravine downstream from this pond and I fear that they are going to see the most damage when the pond lets go. I can't even imagine the liability that this guy's going to face.

Guys if you want a pond, hire an engineer and get it done right. When we built ours we hired a engineer and a contractor to build the pond. It cost more to have someone else do the work but the peace of mind is priceless.

 

[Unclebuck257]

Seven years ago, when I bought my 50 acre place here, it was open pasture and about 1/8 woods. I knew exactly where I wanted to build my house, and directly behind where I wanted to build, was a well established stock tank (pond) that had been there since 1929. The problem was that at one end of that established tank was 4 more times that space, or land, in swamp that looked nasty and was nothing but a mosquito breeding ground.

I hired a man for 7 days, that dug stock tanks for a living for his employer. He was on vacation and needed the money. I also rented a big dozier for him to use and turned him loose. Now, I've got a very fine 2 acre stock tank, that looks great, is stocked with fish, but most of all, HOLDS WATER!!

I learned from him some of the things already mentioned in other replies and they are all important to remember.

Interfering with the water flow to a neighbor's tanks down the line from me was a big consideration and had to be accounted for.

Making sure your dam and tank bottom will hold water is another major item. Depending on what your soil type is, you may have to use clay( for example) to line the bottom of it, or in your case, the additional dam area so it won't leak water and eventually collapse.

There are other things to consider too and a professional will know those things. My advice would be to hire a professional and have it done right. Otherwise, you could be out the time and money you spend to do it, and then more time and money for possible legal fees or for having to re-do it again in the future.

 

[fishman]

The suggestions to have a professional at least look at it are right on target. As with doctors, get more than one opinion/bid.