Prospect for pond?

[Judy in IN]

This is what I would call a Pothole. It's actually on the top of a hill, with limited watershed. We had thought about draining it to the creek, although tht would take some deep digging (10'-12' deep) through the surrounding hillside.

Then Spring came, and the Spring Peepers. They LOVE this place! Now we have a pair of wild Mallards hanging out there.



Last year, when we first looked at this place, this area was dry. So, I'm ambivilant about trying to deepen it, as Hubby suggests. He pointed out that we DO have a high water table.

Any thoughts?

[cowboy joe]

Top of the hill so I'm thinking this may simply be a low spot over hard pack or rock where water temporarily pools because it takes a long time to perk through the soil. You might consider digging a test hole to see what kind of soil is there. If it was dry last year chances are digging may just create a hole not a pond. Also may also want to check with your local weather conditions to see if this has been a wetter than normal spring or if last year was drier than normal. That might give you an idea of what the area usually looks like. Btw, it's a beautiful spot...thanks for sharing the pic!

[fishhead]

You could drain it without digging easy enough but then you wouldn't have a pond and EVERYONE needs at least one pond IMO.

If you dig it deeper you run the risk of digging through the impervious layer that is holding the water. Before digging I would check the soil to a depth at least as deep as you intend on digging. It's small enough that it could be resealed with bentonite.

One thing you might want to consider is putting a dock to the water so that you can stand over the water without getting into the pond. That makes it a lot more enjoyable and you're more likely to take advantage of having the pond.

[manfred]

I have a pond on top of a hill that is about 1/2 acre but about 14 feet deep. It was excavated and was dry until it began to fill with rainwater and has risen every year for about 6 years now, it still has 2 feet to go before it overflows.
I think that probably due to the depth I don't get as much evaporation as I would with a larger, more shallow pond.

[uncle Will in In.]

Judy, before you try to either drain, or deepen this spot, check with the FSA office for instructions on where to find out what can be legally done to it. It is considered a wetland and you could get fined thousands of dollars for disturbing it. I can remember when the ground we owned was ours to deal with as we saw fit. All the best farmland in Indiana would have been considered wetlands by todays standards. <>UNK

[Judy in IN]

fishhead,

I't only a foot or two deep, at the most. I really don't see it as a real pond.

The Spring Peepers did it for me! If we dug pretty deep, and added fish, wouldn't we lose our frog Woodstock?

Uncle Will,

Yes, you can't seem to farm without bosses these days. I've been up to ASCS a couple of times. I was asking about planting timber along the creek. The guy was supposed to call me in March. What month is this?

We're going to be busy enough this year, without re-doing this pothole. I may just dig one test hole in the Fall, like fishhead recommends.

We have a MUCH bigger area that I want to make into a pond. Unfortunately, it's up against the county road. There are scrub willow trees there a foot in diameter. It evidently can't be farmed at ALL. THAT is my pick for a pond.

[fishhead]

Depending on the fish species you could very well lose all your peepers. Even I don't advocate for putting fish in every pond.

[Judy in IN]

fishhead,

Yep, that's what I thought. Maybe we'll just leave this one for the frogs and ducks. We'll dig a pilot hole this fall, and talk to ASCS again...

I spent the day grubbing out trees along the fence line with the back hoe. At least 5 feet down is clay.

Hope I don't punch through to anything else...

When we were augering for corner posts, in one area we ran into a grey, sticky clay. It would stop the auger cold!

Thanks for all the input.