Sacrificial pond ??

[Buff]

I had a dam built on my farm that should someday make for a 12 acre lake 35'
' deep.
The deep end filled quickly but while maybe 20" deep it is only 4 or 5 acres.
The next 10 foot deep will cover a lot of land.
My problem is flooding virgin land looses a lot of water soaking into the ground.

I figure I have 3 choices with this.

1 --- do nothing it may take several years but it will finally silt in and fill up

2- drill a well and put a solar pump on it. 12 to 16 thousand dollars

3-- There is a live spring about 100 yards down the hill from the dam that runs a pretty good stream of water ( about like a water hose left on ) pretty much year round. I can dig a small pond and trap that water and pump it back up to the lake every day with the same solar pump. 4 or 5 thousand dollars.

anybody ever tried anything like this?

[OleTomTalker]

Sorry I'm no help but in to see what suggestions people have.

[Shane]

What would it take to build a bigger dam below that spring and then tear down your current dam, essentially moving your pond down the hill so it would be spring-fed?

[AgHntr10]

What about using bentonite to stop the water from soaking in the ground?

[AntlerCollector]

Sump pump in the spring and lots of hoses. I filled a pond like this on a place in Madisonville years ago. Ran it day and night for a week.

[2050z]

Sodium Bentonite Pond Sealer

[Patton]

What about using bentonite to stop the water from soaking in the ground?

This is would I try. Spread and disc in over the virgin land.

[Codie]

If my intention was to have the place for a long time I would go with option #1 but if I had any type of intentions of selling the place in the next 5 years I would go with option #3

[Corn Sack]

Talk about first world problems

I would relocate dam to catch spring water. Pond will be clear and full.

[LWolken]

I would calculate the flow rate of the spring then siphon the water back up hill to the big lake. How much elevation change are we talking about over that 100 yds?

[Bluesman]

What about using bentonite to stop the water from soaking in the ground?

Bentonite works pretty well.
Another fix would be to strip the shallow surfaces down to clay then mix clay with the topsoil 50/50. Spread that mix and compact it. Dozers can make quick work of this if the clay is shallow.
If the dam wasn't mixed that way it will probably leak one day.
12 something acres is a lot of $ for bentonite.

[hopedale]

Sodium Bentonite Pond Sealer

What would be the amount needed for 12 acre?

[Buff]

What would it take to build a bigger dam below that spring and then tear down your current dam, essentially moving your pond down the hill so it would be spring-fed?

about $60,000.00

[Buff]

I would calculate the flow rate of the spring then siphon the water back up hill to the big lake. How much elevation change are we talking about over that 100 yds?

wild guess 100'

[DRT]

The solar pumps on our lease don't produce a large amount of water so putting one in the spring and pumping it uphill would probably be just as productive as drilling the well. Don't get me wrong, they put out enough water to keep the ponds up but it looks like a slow running garden hose.