He built ponds all the time, in fact was leaving our job to go and start one. He did say it was possible that the pond HAD been fed by a small spring and the spring had been silted over and blocked.While we had the backhoe on hand, we had an area exposed by the summer heat and had the backhoe operator dig two test holes where it might have been and... no joy. The holes were left open for twenty four hours and there was no water flow in the bottom, and they were six feet deep and six feet long and the width of the bucket. We backfilled the holes.
The decision was made to drain the pond and let it dry out completely, if it would. Then the decision would be made to:
1. Dig the pond out deeper, to the clay base and properly form the pond to prevent leakage and attempt to locate the spring, if one is there. - or - let the properly formed pond refill by Mother Nature's graces. This process will likely take a year.
2. If we decide NOT to rebuild the pond, fill the pond back in and seed the area and add that 3/4 of an acre back to the pasture. The maintenance of the area would become much easier. We don't "need" the pond to water livestock any longer and don't plan to sell the farm so it's not a "Selling Point" we need to worry about.
Our guy got to work on the project, first going behind the dam on the low side, where the water would drain directly downhill to the main creek, then flow under the road to the river. He started by cutting a large opening in the back of the dam where he could place the backhoe to cut a slot to control the flow of the pond.
- 04 the cut.jpg (773.43 KiB) Viewed 175 times
The cut took about four hours, as he also cut a drainage ditch to control the direction of the flow, and keep erosion to a minimum. Once he was ready, he put the Backhoe in place he made the cut and the water started it's trip. The color of the water in the pond is due to the pond dye Tina added every six months. NOT harmful to the fish, frogs, etc, but controlled the weed growth and algae. Available in several colors, we liked the blue.
- 05 open up.jpg (629.25 KiB) Viewed 175 times
From the backside of the cut you can see the size of the cut through the dam. Small enough to maintain control, but large enough to allow good flow. As the flow would slow, Jimmy would take another deeper bite, deeper, not wider.
- 07 from the pond side.jpg (489.6 KiB) Viewed 175 times
After twenty four hours the level of the pond had dropped dramatically, and the flow had stopped. It rained hard the next morning, so the ground in the working area was slick and dangerous. We'll look at making additional cuts and working more on the pond on Monday, if possible. Otherwise, we will have to wait for the sun to do it's work and harden the exposed areas enough for the backhoe to drive onto the area and cut a ditch line.
It could take a while.
- 08 drained overnight.jpg (685.41 KiB) Viewed 175 times
We'll keep you posted. Regardless of the outcome, the horseshoe berm will be going. The entire berm was built from topsoil pulled down from the hayfield. Not the way you normally build the dams.
