Testing the water... er Mud

   / Testing the water... er Mud #71  
There's an emergency spillway near the inlet, which is opposite the dam and will flow excess water out into the field, which eventually will run into the wetland in the lower field. Three inches over the drain pipe and it'll run out the spillway.

This is an old rebuilt barn pond so while it appears to be new construction it's actually a 100+ old dam with the tub of the pond deepened and widened into the hillside. The original high sides weren't rebuilt. Except the channel cut to replace the drop pipe and drain the pond at the start of the project.

The barn fell in years ago so I buried it into itself and covered it with topsoil. Now there's a permanent shooting bench atop where the barn use to be. Nice 100 yard target with 15' backstop at target end.

Time will tell, but in the event of a catastrophe nothing is below the dam but field and wetland. I would loose a garden, that's all. Slope is to the drainage ditch across the entire field below.

Next summer I plan to put in a dock, gazebo and fire pit. :thumbsup:

If you listen really hard you can hear the crackle of the fire and the snap of those frosty cans opening. :drink:

Throw on another log and pass me a cold one. God Bless America!!!
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #72  
Looks like a great pond, any fish plans? We had a 1/4 acre 18' deep one dug last fall and are thinking about trout but we measured 62-64F at the bottom this August which is close to their maximum temperature.
I think we'll wait and see after it has some plant growth next summer to see what that does for temperature. We want to get lots of lily pads going so that will help shade the pond and drop the temperatures a bit.
My job is to spread out the huge pile of top soil that the excavator left. I've got a few hours at it and have made a small dent, but its nice stuff to learn to work the loader with and also has made me appreciate the HST.
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #73  
What do you have on your spillway? We put crushed rock on one of ours that has topped and washed out. We had 2" rock which washed out and we replaced it with 6" crushed rock.
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #74  
What do you have on your spillway? We put crushed rock on one of ours that has topped and washed out. We had 2" rock which washed out and we replaced it with 6" crushed rock.

Here's what I've got on mine: currently nothing! Twice in major storms, one of which was Irene, my pond's spillway washed out clean, as if NO rock had been there. The first time it was so bad it took out the town's 2' culvert several hundred feet downstream from my pond. I had shot blast rock and small boulders on the downstream side to try to create a waterfall, and everything upstream and on the spillway outflow was gone, ( 6-8" stone).
I repaired it and the only thing that kept the bank from blowing out and completely emptying the pond was the fact that a bunch of the stone had been laid on the interior edge and down it's slope in the pond. Once the water had enough pressure it just washed away whatever it needed to to release the pressure until the pond leveled off.
Currently I asked my excavator if I ought to build up the interior edge with bigger rock and he said NO! He said if I do that it will wash out worse next time because the pressure will build higher and the washout will be worse. Basically one wants to have a pressure relief valve for huge storms, otherwise when things finally give there will be more destruction. I'd stay with what you have now and see how it works going forward. Better to replace some stone once in a while than the entire bank of your pond. Just MHO.:thumbsup:
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #75  
Here's what I've got on mine: currently nothing! Twice in major storms, one of which was Irene, my pond's spillway washed out clean, as if NO rock had been there. The first time it was so bad it took out the town's 2' culvert several hundred feet downstream from my pond. I had shot blast rock and small boulders on the downstream side to try to create a waterfall, and everything upstream and on the spillway outflow was gone, ( 6-8" stone).
I repaired it and the only thing that kept the bank from blowing out and completely emptying the pond was the fact that a bunch of the stone had been laid on the interior edge and down it's slope in the pond. Once the water had enough pressure it just washed away whatever it needed to to release the pressure until the pond leveled off.
Currently I asked my excavator if I ought to build up the interior edge with bigger rock and he said NO! He said if I do that it will wash out worse next time because the pressure will build higher and the washout will be worse. Basically one wants to have a pressure relief valve for huge storms, otherwise when things finally give there will be more destruction. I'd stay with what you have now and see how it works going forward. Better to replace some stone once in a while than the entire bank of your pond. Just MHO.:thumbsup:

Yeah, I agree, we are only trying to mitigate the damage on the outside of the levy when it does overflow, not keep it from over flowing. We have overflow pipes, but in catastrophic flooding like we had this spring, the spillways will be topped, it is just a matter of how much damage is done when it does.

We have several ponds and I am just about finished with the last one where water cut big washouts up to 100 yards from the spillway.

Our ponds were commercially built and have done well, but like you say, sometimes, no matter what you do, you will get topping.

This is a picture of one and it was topped twice after this was taken and you could literally stand a small car up in it.
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #76  
Looks like a great pond, any fish plans? We had a 1/4 acre 18' deep one dug last fall and are thinking about trout but we measured 62-64F at the bottom this August which is close to their maximum temperature.
I think we'll wait and see after it has some plant growth next summer to see what that does for temperature. We want to get lots of lily pads going so that will help shade the pond and drop the temperatures a bit.
My job is to spread out the huge pile of top soil that the excavator left. I've got a few hours at it and have made a small dent, but its nice stuff to learn to work the loader with and also has made me appreciate the HST.

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I'm hoping to get some fish transplanted into the pond next year, but I've got to read up on what will be needed to help them survive. The original pond use to have bullhead and sunfish so I'll likely start there. I would love to stock a few bass for the fun of catching them now and them. Any recommendations? What ever I do stock will be fish caught elsewhere.
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #77  
Yeah, I agree, we are only trying to mitigate the damage on the outside of the levy when it does overflow, not keep it from over flowing. We have overflow pipes, but in catastrophic flooding like we had this spring, the spillways will be topped, it is just a matter of how much damage is done when it does.

We have several ponds and I am just about finished with the last one where water cut big washouts up to 100 yards from the spillway.

Our ponds were commercially built and have done well, but like you say, sometimes, no matter what you do, you will get topping.

This is a picture of one and it was topped twice after this was taken and you could literally stand a small car up in it.

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Awesome washout!!! Presently the emergency overflow is just hard-pan compacted with a vibratory roller. I've built a small stone wall at the mouth, hoping to mitigate washout, but if we get a heavy rain, well, we'll see. If I get a washout that'll give me something to do with the TLB. ;)
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #78  
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I'm hoping to get some fish transplanted into the pond next year, but I've got to read up on what will be needed to help them survive. The original pond use to have bullhead and sunfish so I'll likely start there. I would love to stock a few bass for the fun of catching them now and them. Any recommendations? What ever I do stock will be fish caught elsewhere.
I hear crappie are a good warmer pond fish, as they will probably naturally reproduce, fun to catch, and are among the best tasting fish. They are our back up plan. You might have to buy them though but it would be worth it to get some good stock that produces some big fish.
 
   / Testing the water... er Mud #79  
We have catfish, crappie, bass and blue gill in our ponds. Initially we put quite a few hybrid bluegill in, but haven't put anymore in due to the expense, but they are a hoot to catch.

Proper management is an ongoing thing and we now have a couple of the bigger ponds out of balance with too many bass.

We also let some people have access to one of our ponds and didn't pay any attention to size and limit, so it now needs some work to restore some balance.
 
 
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