2.5 Acre Pond Gone!!! Ideas, tale, and restoral thread

Stressless · Jun 19, 2023

Really happy with the bald cypress planted 1 year ago Apr.
Many are in this condition, prolly half and the pond is 18" lower than the overflow so these dint get real wet feet. Plan to stick another 10 clumps in the fall or next spring. They make great structure and are beautiful.

Cypress opening up last Sep when I cleared the trees from shading them out.

Stressless · Sep 9, 2023

BLUF: The pond was 18" below overflow with a seep, it had stabilized at that level for about a year, it has gone a few inches lower over the summer so I decided to chase One Gremlin. One time.

The pond project has gone very well from what I actually expected. There is one seep that has been located and is exactly where Mose got the dozer struck and messed up the formation underground in Aug '22. To compound the issue/problem it appears they buried a couple trees under the road when I wasn't on site for that one part of the work once they winched his dozer out.

A couple weeks ago on 23 Aug we got +2" of rain and I was on site and checked for the seep(s) along the entire edge of the pond. Only one was found as noted - right where the dozer went in.

This is where I'd like folks advise/constructive additions to the process as I have only plugged one seep and that was documented above in this thread.

1. Start buy digging a 12' long trench, parallel to the pond, at the base of the hill that wasn't disturbed by the original excavation in '21 or the work done in '22 to remove a hill that was collapsing onto the pond road. The trench is as far from the pond edge as possible.

2. Dig down in that 12' long trench until we cross the seep and dig at least 2' down past the last wet/water/seep. It may be infiltrated with water add 3-500#'s of bentonite to bottom and seep side and see if we can get any bentonite slurry to flow into the seep/hole this is pure conjecture but we'll be ready with a slurry pan and 4gpm pump.

3. Once the bentonite is in and one the edges of the trenchare in with bentonite, fill and pack the trench with regular clay, add bentonite to it and on top. Fill trench and top with material.

4. Dig out the seep from that area and tree trunk.root from trench to pond, add 500-900#'s of bentonite into the trench and close to the opening, fillwith reglulr clay and top and sides with remaining bentonite.

5. Remaining Clay packed along the pond edge on/around the edge of the disturbed ground.

We're getting after this next Thursday the 14th.

Stressless · Monday at 9:39 AM

We executed the plan last Sep, put the clay(s) in both bentonite and regular gray clay. As always there's something that goes sideways but this time they were all kinda small and we made on site corrections, lotsa flow in the 10' deep hole- that got the most bentonite and covered with clay then packed.

I also regraded the new two track from pond to ridge. Installed a halfpipe to cut down erosion from that slope. Spread lime and seeded w crimson clover and rye.