Creating a Lake

[Glowplug]

Hey Eddie, I remember a long time ago you were talking about the spillway. You were going to build a wide concrete overflow as a "relief valve" for serious downpours to prevent erosion. I may have missed it, but I don't remember you discussing its construction or posting any pictures. Next time you post some pictures perhaps you could throw in some of this too. I was just curious how it turned out, that is, if you did it.

Chuck

 

[Renze]

Glowplug, as far as i can see from the progress of Eddies postings, he doesnt need the spillway untill at least the next spring

 

[RobJ]

Buddy of mine used 4 24" pipes with a concrete spillway behind for overflow. Same guy on another lake diverted the dam up the hill (to hold more water) and to act as an overflow..away from the main dam. He needed that on the second lake. It filled up in less than 2 weeks with a branch going through it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Fireman,

While I do agree with you that it's probably gonna catch it's fair share of lures, I couldn't think of anything else to do with it. I tore it up pretty good trying to get it sealed. I also put a few holes in it dragging it around. It was either burn it, or toss it in the lake. I thought a few fish might appreciate it, but who knows? hahaha

Rob,

Since I leveled the pump and changed the oil, it's running strong. It does have an oil shut off, so the dirty oil was probalby bad enough to cause my problems.

Kent,

The engine has a low oil preasure shut off.

Glowplug,

I'll take some picutures, but for now, the spillways is still dirt. I have bermuda grass coming in, and it's a very gradual slop that won't cause very much erosion. Even if it does, it will be minimal.

When I get closer to opening the park, more time or some extra cash, I'll start cementing it in and building up the footings for the bridge across it. I'll also be able to adjust the full height of the lake then too. As it is, I'm sort of guessing where I'm wanting it based on an image in my brain. Reality and my fantasies sometimes don't turn out like I'd hope for. hahaha

Renze,

Keep the faith and think positive thoughts. I will fill the lake before Christmas. Say it over and over again, all day long. I do. hahahaha

Eddie

 

[gemini5362]

Is that a fish "habitrail"? or a fishing lure catcher?

I had a friend of mine that was an avid fisherman. He made fishing habitrail out of black pvc pipes. He started with two inch pipes and bored holes through that for 1.5 inch pipe then bored holes through the 1.5 inch for 1 inch etc etc down to 1/2 inch. he tried them out on dry land to see how bad they would catch his lures. He found out that the pvc pipe would just turn when a lure caught it and would not snag his lures at all.

 

[Renze]

Renze,

Keep the faith and think positive thoughts. I will fill the lake before Christmas. Say it over and over again, all day long. I do. hahahaha

Eddie

Eddie, i didnt mean to joke about the progress you are making, it's just that if you have the pond filled, it will take some serious rain to overflow the pond over the spillway... I thought the spillway was only for calamity control when that levelling pipe you installed, cannot take care of the amount of water ??

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Renze,

You are exactly right.

I'm still unsure about the spillway and overall design. It's one of those things that I hope to be able to adjust as I get closer to being full and hopefull see what happens during some heavy rains. The pipe overflow will handle the first few inches of water, but I haven't decided how much. I figure that every inch of water is around 120,000 gallons.

Most rains should give me a few inches of water depth that I want to go through the 6 inch pipe. Once water starts flowing through the spillway, I'm loosing fish and causing erosion. Even worse, I could be creating a hazard. So in my mind, the spillway should be only for those times I really need it.

It's unfinished, but it's built in such a way that I can modify it, raise it or lower it. Until I have a few storms come through, I just don't know what will happen.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Here's a few pictures I took of the spillway an hour ago. It's 20 feet wide and over 2 feet tall.

The bermuda grass is coming in and should be pretty thick by spring. Hopefully it will be secure enough to hold when I need it.

You can see how flat the slope is at it drains to the creek. It's not flat, but almost!!!!

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

The water level is rising everyday, but it's a very small amount. I see the water covering my islands and working it's way up my stumps. The more water I get, the slower the changes, but it's happening.

I'm using the log in these pictures to measure my progress. The first picture shows the level after I'd been pumping water for a bit with the old, leaky 4 inch corugated pipe. It's the only picture that I have to show the log.

The second picture was taken today and shows how much the water has climbed up the log.

I'll take pics from this same location every week and post the pictures as an ongoing progress report. Hopefully those of you who are following this thread will find it as interesting as I do.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

This is turning into the thread that will never go away!!! hahahaha

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you to everyone who's helped with your advice.

Here's a few pics of what Lake Marabou looks like today.

Eddie & Steph