Creating a Lake

[have_blue]

I can't think of a better way to mess up some good land than to go off half cocked building a pond. Ponds need to be designed and built according to a well conceived and engineered plan.

I agree 100%, and I'm sure Eddie does too. That's why Eddie conceived and engineered his pond extremely well. If a freak storm comes up and washes out the dam before the grass is deeply rooted, well, it's only dirt. It's impossible to plan for 500 year freak storms. Nobody does.

Speaking of freaky weather, I'm supposed to be putting the finishing touches on my well-engineered pond this morning. It's 22 Deg outside, and I believe the dirt will be frozen. First time that's happened in 5 years or so!

 

[Farwell]

I agree 100%, and I'm sure Eddie does too. That's why Eddie conceived and engineered his pond extremely well. If a freak storm comes up and washes out the dam before the grass is deeply rooted, well, it's only dirt. It's impossible to plan for 500 year freak storms. Nobody does.

Speaking of freaky weather, I'm supposed to be putting the finishing touches on my well-engineered pond this morning. It's 22 Deg outside, and I believe the dirt will be frozen. First time that's happened in 5 years or so!

Bob,
Depending on the moisture in the dirt, just the first inch or so will be frozen the rest should be fine.
I live in Mid Michigan where the temps have been in the mid teens off and on for the past week with a high of 30, I can still dig through the top layer of dirt.
David

 

[schmism]

so by xmas how many hrs will you have put on your pump by then?

 

[rico304]

Just a quick question Eddie. Now that the Lake is filling up does it look smaller, bigger or about the same???

 

[EddieWalker]

Shawn,

My small pond is very similar to yours with a small watershed. I've done every trick in the book to catch every drop of rain water for it!!! It sat pretty near empty all winter long until one huge storm came through and dropped over 5 inches of rain in just a few hours. That one storm filled up that pond!!

I'm sort of hoping for one of those right now.

Bob,

Good point about too many ducks. The small pond is right next to my home and I'd like to think it has some protection for the birds from preditors, but we consistantly see coyote tracks all around it. One afternoon while Steph was at the back of the shop by herself trying to get a good picture of a Tanager, she saw a bobcat come up from the pond. It scared her really good too!!!! hahahaha

Before the goose showed up, I realy expected to loose at least one duck to coyotes before they learned to stay on the island all night. I also wondered if they would learn that lesson, or continue to provide dinner to the coyotes. We convinced the goose is what's keeping the ducks alive becase he is so alert. NOTHING gets past him. hahaha

The lake does not have an island, so the ducks only protection will be open water. There's plenty of that, so I'm not worried, but they love to hunt and feed along the shoreline, which is where I expect them to have problems. We've seen plenty of coyotes and even watched a bobcat play with a mouse one morning, so there's no shortage of preditors!!!

If I bought a dozen ducks, I'm wondering how many will live a full year? If they had a goose to protect them, that would help, but how do you get another one to show up? hahaha

I did see online that I can buy a pair of Canadians for $45, but will they stay? Are there flightless geese? What about swans? Anybody know if they will stay or how to keep them around? Are swans alert and will they protect my ducks like the goose does?

I'm also debating geting males and females? I hate the idea of having too many ducks, which is a real possibility, but I question there ability to build a nest on the shoreline and survive nesting.

David,

Good hearing from you. Us Southerners just don't do well when it's in the 20s outside. I know I'm having issues just going to the gas station to fill up my gas cans for the pump this morning. hahaha Maybe one more cup of coffee. hahaha

Schmism,

I've been trying to run the pump 24 hours a day, but haven't been very succesfulll at it. The dirty oil problem had it dying on me for hours at a time before I noticed it. Now I'm starting to burn a little oil and have to add some every morning. If I don't, than two days after changing the oil, it will die on me. If I top off the oil in the morning, it will keep going until the next morning when I either top it off again or change it. Every three days I change the oil. It's ony half a quart, so I'm not spending a fortune on oil. Gas isn't that bad either. I put five gallons in every morning and that's just about right for 24 hours. When I try to top it off with another can, I don't quite get a gallon in and it starts to overflow. Instead of wasting a single drop, I just give it five gallons and let her run.

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it's run on average 20 hours a day since starting this a month ago. 30 days at 20 hours is 600 hours. I might get another 400 hours on it before Christmas as I've gotten better at keeping it running, but there's no gurantee. Does 1,000 hours sound reasonable by Christmas?

rico,

It looks HUGE!!! hahaha It really looks allot bigger than I was hoping for. The whole project took on a life of it's own and has become so much more than I'd even dreamed of. I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted, but it was never anything like what I'm getting.

It was windy out yesterday and I was working in a different area, but I could see through the trees and see the lake. The sun was reflecting off the waves and it was just a beautiful sight. I'm at that point where I'm questioning myself that I really built it? It's so big and so amazing, that it just doesn't seem possible.

Yes, it looks much bigger than I expected.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[Farwell]

Eddie,
I was actually colder when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area because I was to dumb to dress for the cold and dampness. Don't have much humidity in Mid Michigan in the Winter time. I have to be careful not to overdress for the cold because it will make me sweat and that can be a real problem when walking behind a snow blower with the wind blowing and it is 12 degrees.
I have about 1 acre that has water in it most of the year and am waiting to get ahead financially before making it into a pond if I can get the okay from the local Department of Natural Resources. Your work has been an inspiration to a lot of us.
David

 

[patrick_g]

Eddie, I don't see what all the fuss is about. You already had a lake, it just had too many trees growing in it and it is not deep enough for your purposes. So you remove a few trees and dig it out a bit.

Like the guy in Florida who went in to drain the swamp and ended up fighting alligators, you went in to build a lake and ended up having to drain a swamp. Actually a swamp is an excellent prospect for a lake, if the soil at depth will hold water without a lot of amelioration.

In theory diging out the dirt where the swamp was and piling it up for a dam creates a lake but that is a gross over simplification and understates the work involved.

Don't make the mistake so many amature dam builders make of letting the aesthetics or laziness prevent you from piling the dirt high enough above the overflow waterline to meet good engineering practices. The weight of the dirt in the air above the highest possible water level is what holds the dirt subject to hydraulic forces in place. (See gravity dam)

Pat

 

[EddieWalker]

David,

I grew up in the SF Bay Area and understand that cold isn't just measured in degrees. It's a wet, penetrating cold there that was hard to shake. But in the mountains it's a dryer cold that isn't that bad at all. I guess it's all based on humidity and chill factor.

As my project winds down, it sure would be fun to see you or somebody else start one!!

Pat,

Thank you for your kind comments. I'm always a little hesitant about using the words marsh or swamp, but know they probably apply here. It was a wet wooded area that I never thought would turn into what I have now. When I bought the land, I figured it would be useless land that wasn't good for anything. Boy was I wrong!!!

I didn't think about the dirt above the waterline having any downward preasure on the dam as a desing priciple. My intention for it was to be able to hold back excess water until it drained out the spillway. I figured two feet over 4 acres would hold all that I could handle, so that's why I made it that tall.

My understanding was that the inside slope had to be 3:1 or less in order for the water to be pushing down more than it's pushing out. I don't pretend to understand these things, I just do what the smart people have already figured out.

My dam is actually only holding back 4 feet of water when full at the highest point, and that number declines the closer to the spillway. The bulk of the lake is dug out and part of a natural depression. A four foot dam doesn't have to be very large, but I'm over 12 feet wide at the top in my narrowest areas and a few areas are much thicker. I say 12 feet because I graded it with my dozer blade!!!

We had an inch of rain yesterday, but it's been dry for awhile before that, so I don't know how much runnoff I received. The amount of runnoff is much greater when the ground is already wet or saturated, but anything is a big help.

Eddie

 

[bailey_trey]

Hey Eddie,

I live in the Ozark mountains of north/central Arkansas. Your lake has inspired many and I’m throwing myself in that group. My farm and lake site happens to be in an area that drains at least 5 square miles of land. That drainage generates a creek that runs almost all year long. The elevation in my drain area climbs almost 500 feet. That elevation combined with rain deluges can generate a lot of water flowing down the creek. At times, it is an absolute torrent that has washed out many a bridge across the creek. I’m posting a topo of my site to show the magnitude of this project. The resulting lake would be between 30 and 50 acres.

While I have long dreamed of having a lake across my creek I realized that the engineering required was way beyond my skill. The resulting lake would be annually punished by the creek’s torrents. However, I have a natural gas company that seems interested in building a lake so they can collect water for drilling operations in the area. Having witnessed this company’s building practices in the area I really don’t trust them to design this lake that may be built. I am hoping you know of a dam builder / designer as a result of this thread. Any suggestions?

Your lake thread has just been incredible. If my lake really does get the go-ahead I'll put it up in a thread. Of course, it won't be a personal as your labor of love, (complete with marriage), but it might be fun to watch the progress.

Any recent pics? Perhaps some with your local predators? Even though we have bobcats in this area, I’ve never seen one in the wild.

 

[EddieWalker]

Bailey Trey,

Thank you for your kind words.

From what little I know about these things, daming up a creek is usualy the most dangerous way to go. It's just like you said about the torrential downpours and massive amounts of water. I'd guess you'd need a huge amount of freeboard above waterline to handle the water and a massive spillway.

It scares me, which means it's something I probably wouldn't do. Of course, I love the idea of you doing it and posting pics of your progress. I know it's possible, but the price is gonna be very expensive.

Just like this site is where you go for tractor and rural living advice, PondBoss is where you go for pond building and fishing advice.

Pond Boss

The guys there are more about the fish than anything else, but there are a few who know something about dams. They also have a magazine and one of the writers is a guy named Mike Otto who owns a construction business that specializes in building ponds. They all say he's the best, but he's here in Texas. I know you can call him and ask if he knows anybody in your area. Guys who have called him say he's very friendly and aproachable. That's where I'd start if I was you.

You can also get the local government agency involved in helping you out, but I'd hold off on that for a bit. Some agancies are very helpful, but some can turn it into a nightmare. There's no need to let anybody know your plans until you're ready to do so. Just fishing around for information can come back to bite you down the road.

Good luck,
Eddie