Getting ponds to hold water

[ClinchValley86]

Am about to hopefully lease a farm that has 7 ponds. Only 2 have water. They've just dried up over the years. Levees are in tact.

All are in locations to catch plenty of runoff.

There are mines running underneath the entire valley, so I suspect thats where the water has gone.

What would be a way to maybe get one or two to hold water? Or is it a lost cause potentially due to the mine?

 

[Ky hills]

Are they solid bottomed with clay? Sink holes?
May need cleaning out and the bottoms packed back down, or g they are solid bottomed.
I’m very heard of people putting liners in smaller ponds. If there’s a small hole in the pond it might could be filled in and there’s a type of granular type product that expands that help plug up holes.
Not sure how well any of that would work and kind of expensive too.
We’ve had several to go dry.over the years.
Had a new one dug about 25 or somewhere there bout, it was at the bottom of a hill and like to never hit clay.
It didn’t hold for a long time as there was a hole in it I tried putting some of that expanding stuff in it it finally held after cattle walked it down, it’s washed back out now, it’s back to being dry now another bigger hole came in.
One day an old drunk man that I’d never seen before stopped in and said he j ew how to get it to hold. He said fence it off and turn some hogs in on it.

 

[NIdahoShorthorns]

Too much vegetation? Trees will draw down your water table in the blink of an eye. I have on old hand dug well going dry, about 15 feet deep. Used to have 9 feet of water typically. Every year the pine trees get bigger the water level gets lower. A lot of people think shade prevents evaporation, it usually accelerates it, tree transpiration will use a lot of groundwater.

 

[4hfarms]

I have heard As Ky said. Keep hogs in it for a year.

I have also wondered about those recycled billboards sold by the recycle guy in Atlanta. They should work when covered with dirt.

Our pond is low as ever right now.

 

[Travlr]

Am about to hopefully lease a farm that has 7 ponds. Only 2 have water. They've just dried up over the years. Levees are in tact.

All are in locations to catch plenty of runoff.

There are mines running underneath the entire valley, so I suspect thats where the water has gone.

What would be a way to maybe get one or two to hold water? Or is it a lost cause potentially due to the mine?

See if you can get some Bentonite locally. Make sure the pond is deep enough, and spread the Bentonite around liberally. Then feed your cattle in the pond so they will stomp in the Bentonite and the hay they don't eat.
I've seen ponds sealed by just feeding cattle in it without any Bentonite. It works pretty well. My place in Arkansas had an underground river due to the rocky soil and I dug a pond that held water after I fed cows in it for a couple of years.

 

[kenny thomas]

If the farm hasn't had cows on it for a while they will dry up. I bought 10 bags of Bentonite from your coop 3 years ago. Less than $18 a bag then. I like the idea of feeding in the ponds some and letting the cattle do the work. Also kids on 4 wheelers going round and round will tamp one pretty good. A tractor packs it better than a dozer.

 

[ClinchValley86]

If the farm hasn't had cows on it for a while they will dry up. I bought 10 bags of Bentonite from your coop 3 years ago. Less than $18 a bag then. I like the idea of feeding in the ponds some and letting the cattle do the work. Also kids on 4 wheelers going round and round will tamp one pretty good. A tractor packs it better than a dozer.

Thinking i may just feed some hay in there and see what happens. Its just grass in there. One of them had grown up w trees. But itd be the least handy anyways.

Ive heard the hogs thing before, know people who had successfully fixed them that way. I just have zero interest in hugs. Lol

 

[ClinchValley86]

See if you can get some Bentonite locally. Make sure the pond is deep enough, and spread the Bentonite around liberally. Then feed your cattle in the pond so they will stomp in the Bentonite and the hay they don't eat.
I've seen ponds sealed by just feeding cattle in it without any Bentonite. It works pretty well. My place in Arkansas had an underground river due to the rocky soil and I dug a pond that held water after I fed cows in it for a couple of years.

I like that idea.

 

[Brute 23]

Bentonite is a waste of money especially in the way suggested. To do it right it is extremely expensive.

You are better off running water lines and putting in troughs, especially on lease country.

 

[kenny thomas]

Bentonite is a waste of money especially in the way suggested. To do it right it is extremely expensive.

You are better off running water lines and putting in troughs, especially on lease country.

Your soil must be different. With our soils it doesn't take a lot to get it to hold water. But take the cows away for a few years and the ponds go dry.

 

[Brute 23]

I would literally take the money I was going to spend on bentonite, go to a casino, and hope to win enough money to fix it right. The odds would be better.

 

[Silver]

Many tons of bentonite to have a chance of making a difference. Bentonite is incredible stuff but it would take truck loads to seal a good sized pond.

 

[kenny thomas]

Many tons of bentonite to have a chance of making a difference. Bentonite is incredible stuff but it would take truck loads to seal a good sized pond.

I suspect ponds there are much different than here. Most here are pretty small. 1/10 acre of less for some. I cant think of a pond thats as big as 1/2 acre. But we have 55" of rain so we dont need lots of storage space. A big rain will refill a small pond. 500lb of Bentonite will do a lot of good in our small ponds.

 

[Silver]

I suspect ponds there are much different than here. Most here are pretty small. 1/10 acre of less for some. I cant think of a pond thats as big as 1/2 acre. But we have 55" of rain so we dont need lots of storage space. A big rain will refill a small pond. 500lb of Bentonite will do a lot of good in our small ponds.

Well, one to two pounds per sq foot eats up a pot of bags of bentonite.

 

[kenny thomas]

Well, one to two pounds per sq foot eats up a pot of bags of bentonite.

I agree, but 10 bags will seal most ponds here.

 

[wbvs58]

I agree, but 10 bags will seal most ponds here.

Where I am Kenny 10 bags will do it as long as they are 1 ton bags.
They make kitty litter from bentonite so throw in a couple of bags of kitty litter too.

Ken

 

[jltrent]

Spray and kill all the grass with roundup, haul in clay dirt, throw a block of salt in the middle, pack good with a tractor was how I got one to hold twenty years ago and still holding. Also, if there are trees nearby their roots makes it a lot harder to hold.

 

[sstterry]

I suspect ponds there are much different than here. Most here are pretty small. 1/10 acre of less for some. I cant think of a pond thats as big as 1/2 acre.

I have one that is a little over an acre, and no, you cannot fish there.

 

[kenny thomas]

I have one that is a little over an acre, and no, you cannot fish there.

So its a fish pond, not a cow pond.

 

[ClinchValley86]

These ponds aren't large at all. Maybe 50 foot across. No more than 10 feet deep. Probably more like 6 or 8. Thatd be the biggest of them.

Im thinking dig all the sod off, see if there's any clay underneath. If not, get a load or two if I can find some good stuff. Then get some cows on it.