Foozle
Silver Member
I live in drought-stricken South Carolina and I have a freshwater spring that is still flowing fairly good even with the dry weather. Historically, it looks like the spring used to flow down a small path through the woods and drain into the creek nearby. Over time, the pathway has silted up and the flow is non-existent now. Instead, there is just a large soggy area around the spring head and soggy areas along the former pathway it took to the creek.
I was thinking about digging out the soggy area around the spring head to form a small pond (maybe 20ft by 40ft or so). I don't want to have to build a dam, etc., so my plan was to just dig a bit larger over time and see if the spring would keep the pond full despite the drainage, etc. If it totally dried up, I'd keep the soil handy and just fill in if needed. Basically I'd just try to turn the boggy areas into areas that would hold water instead of being a swamp.
Anyone see any risk in this or have any advice? One thing I ran into already was as I started digging, the hole filled in quickly with water and it makes further digging rather difficult. Any recommendations on pumps that might be suitable to move the water "downstream" while I dig?
Thanks in advance for the advice.
Dave
I was thinking about digging out the soggy area around the spring head to form a small pond (maybe 20ft by 40ft or so). I don't want to have to build a dam, etc., so my plan was to just dig a bit larger over time and see if the spring would keep the pond full despite the drainage, etc. If it totally dried up, I'd keep the soil handy and just fill in if needed. Basically I'd just try to turn the boggy areas into areas that would hold water instead of being a swamp.
Anyone see any risk in this or have any advice? One thing I ran into already was as I started digging, the hole filled in quickly with water and it makes further digging rather difficult. Any recommendations on pumps that might be suitable to move the water "downstream" while I dig?
Thanks in advance for the advice.
Dave