You must have it. 

What do you do? Where to start? 

There is a list of mistakes people make once they decide to build a pond. Used to, not that many years ago, you simply called the local bulldozer operator, asked him to build a pond and then, presto-chango, you had a pit surrounded by a pile of dirt that soon had water lapping at the surface. 

That’s not how it works today. 

Before enjoying those grandpeeps on the dock, catching big stringers of fish, you need to do some planning. 

The first big mistake people make is to assume. Never assume. You have to know what to expect. That means planning. Lots of planning. Planning means learning. Start with goals. Goals give you a target. 

Just because that beautiful, perfect-looking site you have in mind’s eye looks ideal…it may not be. 

A site must fit the pond and the pond must fit the site. Two totally different concepts become one. Not only should your dream pond be aesthetically appealing and fit the site, the site should be practical to build a pond. 

Uh, exactly what does that mean? 

Start with maps. Topographical maps and aerial photos. Evaluate the watershed. Most people don’t do that. The size of the watershed, compared with average rainfall for your area, determines the size a pond should be. If your watershed drains 50 acres into that valley, the pond will be a different size than for a watershed which drains 500 acres. That’s how the pond fits the site. 

After you figure out how large the pond should be, the next mistake people make is misunderstanding the soils. Not all soils are good for pond building. Clay is a must. Avoid a leaky pond by understanding the best soil types for compaction in an earthen levee or an excavated pond. Often times, soil in a valley was deposited there over many, many years. That means a mixture of soil types, mostly those that like to move. Make sure your soils will work for the project. Dig test holes and evaluate. That’s how the site fits the pond. 

Another big mistake people make is to assume the contractor you choose can read your soils and then know how to separate those soils and build a proper structure and stay within your budget. Ah, budget. That’s another mistake. Until you have thoroughly evaluated the site, determined watershed size, soil types and designed a workable plan, there’s no way to estimate how much dirt must be moved in order to build a dam or excavate your new pond. Estimates come from knowing how much dirt needs to be moved and how far it must be moved. Two key things here…know the volume of dirt that must be moved to estimate the cost and choose the best contractor for the job, not necessarily the cheapest. Best is better than cheap. 

“Choose the best contractor, one who has the right equipment, knowledge, and experience. “

Okay, you’ve pushed past the watershed, figured out there’s enough clay to do what you want and selected the best contractor. You’ve figured out how many cubic yards of dirt must be moved around to do what you want to do and a written estimate is lying on your desk and weighing in your mind. 

What are other common mistakes? 

Don’t assume the estimate is accurate. Assume otherwise or you are likely to be disappointed. Not one project is totally predictable. Not one. When that big silver blade begins to move the earth, surprises await. There may not be enough clay after all…or there may need to be a deeper core trench to build the foundation for your dam, or there may be an old Model-T buried six feet deep in mucky silt from yesteryear’s filled-in creek. Assume the estimate is under-estimated. A good rule of thumb is to look at your estimate, add 25% and hold on. Prepare for surprises. 

Once past dam building or excavating the hole, remember you are building a pond…not just a dam. The dam has a job. Its job is to impound and then release excess water during heavy rains. That’s what it does. It’s a structure, a device with a purpose.  

Inside, behind that dam, is a living, breathing entity that will take on a brand new life. Be sure the inside of your new pond has the best habitat…not too much and not too little. That habitat is based on your goals. If you want a bass lake, design habitat for bass and its food chain. If you want a duck lake, make sure there is shallow water to grow aquatic plants. If you don’t want to be dealing with runaway aquatic vegetation, make sure the shoreline all the way around the periphery gets to deep water pretty fast, at least a 3 to 1 slope into water five feet deep or deeper. 

Know preferred habitat and build it before the pond fills with water. 

While all this percolates in your brain, be thinking of amenities…before the earthmover shows up. Want a dock, maybe a boat ramp? Any swimmers in the group? You may want a beach and a zip line. Is ice fishing part of your life? Set it up in the beginning, not as an afterthought. Think of these things during the planning stage. 

Okay, you get the point. The biggest mistakes people make are:  Failing to plan. Not knowing the watershed. Not understanding the importance of “good” soils. Not hiring the ‘best’ contractor for that specific job. Assuming the estimate is correct (hooray if it is). Understanding a living pond…behind the dam. Forgetting about the amenities. 

Any more? 

Once you build it, you aren’t finished. A pond is ongoing, living, changing, evolving. If you stock it with fish, prepare to manage the fishery. If you build a beach, prepare to weed it. There will be maintenance to keep a pond pristine and acting like the one you are dreaming about. That’s part of the fun of having a pond. 

So, you’ve done it…all the homework, all the planning…and now you look forward to those butterfly spring days when you can head to the dock, dip a cane pole line in the water with a hunk of nightcrawler two feet under a red and white bobber and wait for that telltale plunge from a giant sparkling sunfish accepting your offer. 

One last mistake…don’t forget your favorite beverage and a camera. 

Because, when you make the trek to pond’s edge, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the fruit of your planning and effort rather than the somber feel as other people mentally kick themselves for the mistakes they made…and you didn’t. 

Now all you have to keep your eye on is that bobber. 

Reprinted courtesy of Pond Boss magazine and author, Bob Lusk. For more information, www.pondboss.com or boblusk@outlook.com. 

The new land created is as natural and common as anything that goes on anywhere on the planet. This phenomenon happens every time it rains in every stream and river. Just ask New Orleans. 

The business of removing this material is a large operation in some of the major navigable waterways and bays of this nation. 

Over the last decade there has been a construction project in China that has dammed up three rivers. It is considered one of the biggest dams ever built. One of the concerns keeping engineers busy was how to deal with soils carried into the new lake, silting the bottom, and decreasing volume of the reservoir. So, the situation of a lake filling with silt is not new and is an ongoing concern for the largest lake on the planet, as well as the small ponds on our property. 

Growing up working in the golf course construction business as a youngster drilled into me the importance of cleaning out of the ponds. That practice is a constant exercise; it must be done to keep the place looking good, and in many cases, to keep the pond volume where managers want it. The actual work has not changed much since I saw the first dump truck full of muck and mud pour out on the ground those many years ago.   

So, you have an old, heavily silted pond? You remember the vibrant pond of your youth, loaded with fish, and those fun times when you and your buddies caught fish, swam, and had a good time? Now, fast-forward a few decades and that same pond seems much smaller (which it is) and overgrown with cattails, buttonbush, and underwater greenery to the point it looks stagnant. 

Want to fix it? 

Here is the short story. Drain the water (sometimes), move the gooey, pudding-like material to a place it will not flow back into the pond, and do any other shaping work that needs to be done when the water is gone. Get the mud smoothed and graded, then plant some grass, and pray for rain. 

That sounds easy, doesn’t it?  

Really it is, as long as you have the right equipment and a good plan with a budget that is impossible to pin down. Heavy on the phrase, “Impossible to pin down”. 

I know, lots of work done on a piece of land, and especially around your pond can be done by anybody that wants to be outdoors and have a little fun. Really most of the readers are the kind of people that enjoy doing projects.  

Pond renovation is not one of these projects. Experience is needed along with specialized equipment that most people do not have. Time can also be a factor. Unless there is some way to keep the rain out of the way, the project is usually done at a pace that most people do not have. A weekender that needs to be somewhere making a living cannot dedicate the time needed to get this work done.  

“Bulldozers may push muck to a trackhoe, which picks it up and tosses it over the dam.”

Mike Otto

This process starts by gathering of as much information as possible, and then making decisions. Some of the decisions are made in the moment, surrounded by stinky muck, while others take some thought and planning. 

 A trip around the shoreline is a good place to start. It will tell where the water is coming in and shows the beginning of the work that needs to be done. The first thing to look out for is shallow water, cattails, waterlilies, and willow trees. They are usually the first to move in. They come with the dirt and are Mother Nature’s tools to change water into dirt. 

Wherever possible measure the depth of the water and compare it to the original depth. In yesterday’s world, paddling a boat out, with a piece of rebar or half-inch PVC pipe shoved through silt, down to hard soils on the pond bottom gave us an idea of silt volume and location. Today, sonar units quantify much faster and more accurately. This will tell you how much material has been deposited across the entire pond and needs to be removed.  

This information is valuable, before the real work begins. The problem is it may not be as easy as it sounds to determine the exact amount of the material. A case in point: A good friend, Paul Cannon and his wife, live out in the country close to a major North Texas city. Their first place was a beautiful home in a small country estates-type setting with a small pond that did not hold water at all. It had the watershed drainage but not the material, although it did grow great grass and healthy trees. A move was made to another location with an existing pond. From past experience they presumed it was easier to build a new house than it was to get an old pond to hold water. The new place is as great as the old place, but a little farther out in the country without a paved road.  

The pond had been tested and proved good for holding water. Even though it may not be full all the time, it had good possibilities.   Bulldozers may push muck to a trackhoe, which picks it up and tosses it over the dam. 

“Bulldozers may push muck to a trackhoe, which picks it up and tosses it over the dam.”

Mike Otto

 The land was fenced, a new home was built, and then it was time to work on the pond. Their wet spot sits in a beautiful location close to the back porch and in the middle of a stand of healthy oak trees. At first glance Paul knew it was not very deep. It appeared to be at least 30 years old, based on map history. We got in his boat with a pipe and started the fact-finding process all around the edge and out to the middle. There was only about a foot or two of washed in mud according to the probe. Maybe we should have used one of those new-fangled sonar units. 

Water was drained, machines moved in, and the work began. Two days later seven feet of mud was removed. The initial exploration was not accurate. It was done by yesterday’s book but did not tell the whole story. Today the project is completed, but it grew after it got started. This is not out of the ordinary; as a matter of fact it seems to be the norm, even with some of the newest technology. 

The biggest question during planning this type of project is, “What is done with the mud when it is removed, and how is it handled?”  

Silty material is about 30 percent water, which makes it the consistency of catsup. It will not stay in a pile. It actually moves like cold, smelly lava. Once out in the open, subjected to sunlight and air, it starts to dewater quickly and stops moving after about 24 hours. But, it may take as long as a year for it to dry out enough to drive a vehicle across, but with sun and wind it will eventually turn back to dry dirt. Keep this in mind with silt: it must be pushed downhill. It is almost impossible to push mud uphill. It just will not work. It may be necessary to put the material in dump trucks and haul it away. Whatever the case, do not fight gravity when dealing with mud and muck.  

Often, a good location for mud is behind the dam, if there is room. If it can be stored behind the dam it will not run back into the pond. That is the first place to look. A dozer or loader can push the material downhill to the dam and a track hoe can lift it over the top, dump it, and gravity will pull it away where it can dry, and then be mixed with other soils and spread out. This technique is easy and done every day, if there is room. 

If there is no room behind the dam, look for a spot as close as possible to the work area. This is where dump trucks come into play. A trackhoe or loader will be needed to load trucks. It is important for trucks to be located where it is easy for them to come and go. It may look like a dog chasing a car for a little while as the dump trucks get started, but with a little time it will turn into the likes of a college marching band. 

Any place close to the clean out will work, provided the mud does not block the natural flow of water. A terrace may need to be built in order to get started and keep the mud where it belongs. Keep in mind that the cost of a project will depend on the time (and distance) it takes to move the mud—and how many times it must be moved. 

A small tractor with four-wheel drive and a loader can move a lot of material in a day. If you have one, and the conditions are right, get started. There are dozer guys everywhere that will be glad to give you a few pointers. 

Here are the main points to consider. If you have a pond that has lived its life and you want to resuscitate it, get your best estimate on volume of silt to be removed. Have a plan where to move the silt, and the best way to do it. Look at the costs. You may find it to be much more costly than building a brand new pond on another site on your property. But, if it’s economically feasible, and you have a good place to move the silt and can do it efficiently, then it could certainly be worth the effort. 

Besides, what’s it worth to bring back that pond of your childhood memories? 

Reprinted courtesy of Pond Boss magazine and author, Mike Otto. For more information, www.pondboss.com or boblusk@outlook.com.