Making a pond from a gully

First, I'm new to this group. If this post is better placed somewhere else,
please let me know.

I have a "V" shaped gully in my slightly sloped wooded backyard with an
apparent VERY SMALL spring of constant water running through the bottom of
it.

I'd like to "dam-up" this gully and make a pond - ideally with water feed
from this apparent spring. Here's my questions:

1. What do I do about a liner ? Should I put one big liner in the hole ?
Should the liner cover the water source ? Should I cut a hole in the liner
over the small water source ? Should I try to lay several pieces in the
hole to reduce percolation to increase water level ?

2. What water level overall can I expect ? The "V" gully is about 3
vertical feet deep and has a very small water flow. Is the current
vertical level of the flow the highest I can ever expect ? If I line
portions of this gully - can I realistically expect the hole to fill (and
sustain filled) a level 3 feet higher than the current level ?

There's something here to do with the hydrostatic level of the source -
which I don't know and am interested in suggestions on how to test.

Thanks !!!!

"DelawareDave" wrote in message
...
First, I'm new to this group. If this post is better placed somewhere
else,
please let me know.

I have a "V" shaped gully in my slightly sloped wooded backyard with an
apparent VERY SMALL spring of constant water running through the bottom of
it.

I'd like to "dam-up" this gully and make a pond - ideally with water feed
from this apparent spring. Here's my questions:

1. What do I do about a liner ? Should I put one big liner in the hole
?
Should the liner cover the water source ? Should I cut a hole in the
liner
over the small water source ? Should I try to lay several pieces in the
hole to reduce percolation to increase water level ?

2. What water level overall can I expect ? The "V" gully is about 3
vertical feet deep and has a very small water flow. Is the current
vertical level of the flow the highest I can ever expect ? If I line
portions of this gully - can I realistically expect the hole to fill (and
sustain filled) a level 3 feet higher than the current level ?

There's something here to do with the hydrostatic level of the source -
which I don't know and am interested in suggestions on how to test.

Thanks !!!!


First off, where are you located.

Second, in a lot of places interfering with a water course is illegal. If
its not illegal, you may be liable to a civil suit from anybody downstream
of you. They may be able to sue you for interfering with thier "riparian
rights"
see: http://www.webref.org/sociology/d/do...ian_rights.htm
or if you want a UK citation:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/dg.small/W...ian_rights.htm

However, you might be OK, provided you maintain the original flow and
quality of water to those downstream of your dam.

Personally i would lave the stream alone.
ANO

Thanks for reply. I'm in Northeast USA, specifically a state called
Delaware (very small ). I appreciate your comments about disturbing
existing water flows. The flow is really not a creek in any way - it is a
tiny but steady surface flow literally about 2 inches wide (max) - then 20
feet down the gully there's no surface water to speak of - it is all
dissipated into the ground.

Back to the original post - is there a way I can "dam and liner" this gully
some way into holding a pool of water 3-4 feet above the bottom of the gully
(and 3-4 feet above the water surfacing) ?

Thanks !

"A.N.Other" wrote in message
...
"DelawareDave" wrote in message
...
First, I'm new to this group. If this post is better placed somewhere
else,
please let me know.

I have a "V" shaped gully in my slightly sloped wooded backyard with an
apparent VERY SMALL spring of constant water running through the bottom
of
it.

I'd like to "dam-up" this gully and make a pond - ideally with water
feed
from this apparent spring. Here's my questions:

1. What do I do about a liner ? Should I put one big liner in the
hole
?
Should the liner cover the water source ? Should I cut a hole in the
liner
over the small water source ? Should I try to lay several pieces in
the
hole to reduce percolation to increase water level ?

2. What water level overall can I expect ? The "V" gully is about 3
vertical feet deep and has a very small water flow. Is the current
vertical level of the flow the highest I can ever expect ? If I line
portions of this gully - can I realistically expect the hole to fill
(and
sustain filled) a level 3 feet higher than the current level ?

There's something here to do with the hydrostatic level of the source -
which I don't know and am interested in suggestions on how to test.

Thanks !!!!


First off, where are you located.

Second, in a lot of places interfering with a water course is illegal. If
its not illegal, you may be liable to a civil suit from anybody downstream
of you. They may be able to sue you for interfering with thier "riparian
rights"
see: http://www.webref.org/sociology/d/do...ian_rights.htm
or if you want a UK citation:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/dg.small/W...ian_rights.htm

However, you might be OK, provided you maintain the original flow and
quality of water to those downstream of your dam.

Personally i would lave the stream alone.
ANO

"DelawareDave" wrote in message
...

Thanks for reply. I'm in Northeast USA, specifically a state called
Delaware (very small ). I appreciate your comments about disturbing
existing water flows. The flow is really not a creek in any way - it is a
tiny but steady surface flow literally about 2 inches wide (max) - then 20
feet down the gully there's no surface water to speak of - it is all
dissipated into the ground.

Back to the original post - is there a way I can "dam and liner" this
gully
some way into holding a pool of water 3-4 feet above the bottom of the
gully
(and 3-4 feet above the water surfacing) ?

Thanks !

Having JUST bought land and having a house, set, I can tell you the Corp of
Engineers doesn't care if it's a 2 inch wide stream, or a dry bed without
water for the last 20 years. If they have it marked on their surveys (it
probably won't be marked on your survey), then you CANNOT disturb the
possible flow, even if there's nothing there..

They might never discover the disturbance, or they might.. it's a gamble.

I almost could not use our land because of a completely dry small gully that
hadn't seen water (from what we can tell) in the last 15 years. I was warned
if we DID have our grader ignore the "advise" that the Corp has the full
rights, if you disturb possible waterflow, to fine you $80,000 AND seize and
raze ANY structures on said property.

Needless to say, I complied.

Dam at your own risk, but IMHO it's Ain't worth the risk!

Gareee©
Homepage:
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine.../mainframe.htm
Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

If you dam the water you will raise the head. You risk losing the water
source. The increased water pressure could force the water to find another
path of least resistance.

I would be inclined to maintain the existing water level. Carefully dig
down such that you don't inhibit the water flow. Develop the pool by
digging rather than damming.

DelawareDave wrote in article
...
Thanks for reply. I'm in Northeast USA, specifically a state called
Delaware (very small ). I appreciate your comments about disturbing
existing water flows. The flow is really not a creek in any way - it is
a
tiny but steady surface flow literally about 2 inches wide (max) - then
20
feet down the gully there's no surface water to speak of - it is all
dissipated into the ground.

Back to the original post - is there a way I can "dam and liner" this
gully
some way into holding a pool of water 3-4 feet above the bottom of the
gully
(and 3-4 feet above the water surfacing) ?

Thanks !

"A.N.Other" wrote in message
...
"DelawareDave" wrote in message
...
First, I'm new to this group. If this post is better placed
somewhere
else,
please let me know.

I have a "V" shaped gully in my slightly sloped wooded backyard with
an
apparent VERY SMALL spring of constant water running through the
bottom
of
it.

I'd like to "dam-up" this gully and make a pond - ideally with water
feed
from this apparent spring. Here's my questions:

1. What do I do about a liner ? Should I put one big liner in the
hole
?
Should the liner cover the water source ? Should I cut a hole in
the
liner
over the small water source ? Should I try to lay several pieces in
the
hole to reduce percolation to increase water level ?

2. What water level overall can I expect ? The "V" gully is about
3
vertical feet deep and has a very small water flow. Is the current
vertical level of the flow the highest I can ever expect ? If I
line
portions of this gully - can I realistically expect the hole to fill
(and
sustain filled) a level 3 feet higher than the current level ?

There's something here to do with the hydrostatic level of the source
-
which I don't know and am interested in suggestions on how to test.

Thanks !!!!


First off, where are you located.

Second, in a lot of places interfering with a water course is illegal.
If
its not illegal, you may be liable to a civil suit from anybody
downstream
of you. They may be able to sue you for interfering with thier
"riparian
rights"
see: http://www.webref.org/sociology/d/do...ian_rights.htm
or if you want a UK citation:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/dg.small/W...ian_rights.htm

However, you might be OK, provided you maintain the original flow and
quality of water to those downstream of your dam.

Personally i would lave the stream alone.
ANO

The flow is really not a creek in any way - it is a
tiny but steady surface flow literally about 2 inches wide (max) - then 20
feet down the gully there's no surface water to speak of

Have the water tested for chlorine , chloramine and perhaps florine. There
could be a leaky utility pipe somewhere. Also, do you or your neighbor
have a septic tank?

You may also want to test for disolved solids. If the water has come a
long way it will most likely have more disolved solids than if it is your
local ground water.

I would want to know the water quality before keeping it around. If it is
septic water I would want to divert it back where it came from.

If you have a steady supply of water a liner may not be neccessary. Why not
try a small dam for a year and see how it goes. If a liner is needed I
would build the pond separate from the spring and pipe the water to the pond
from the spring.

Will leave the should or shouldn't to you but how far downstream from the
spring is the point where you would be 3-4 feet lower than the origin? Just
wondering if you can put in your dam at that point, then run a liner behind
the dam and back to the origin of the spring. Allow the water to run over
the lip of the liner in to the new gully/pond, may take a while to fill but
when it does, it can overflow the dam and "continue" the path it was going
before? Not an engineer so may this suggestion may make no sense!


"DelawareDave" wrote in message
...
First, I'm new to this group. If this post is better placed somewhere
else,
please let me know.

I have a "V" shaped gully in my slightly sloped wooded backyard with an
apparent VERY SMALL spring of constant water running through the bottom of
it.

I'd like to "dam-up" this gully and make a pond - ideally with water feed
from this apparent spring. Here's my questions:

1. What do I do about a liner ? Should I put one big liner in the hole
?
Should the liner cover the water source ? Should I cut a hole in the
liner
over the small water source ? Should I try to lay several pieces in the
hole to reduce percolation to increase water level ?

2. What water level overall can I expect ? The "V" gully is about 3
vertical feet deep and has a very small water flow. Is the current
vertical level of the flow the highest I can ever expect ? If I line
portions of this gully - can I realistically expect the hole to fill (and
sustain filled) a level 3 feet higher than the current level ?

There's something here to do with the hydrostatic level of the source -
which I don't know and am interested in suggestions on how to test.

Thanks !!!!

As you'll see from other posts damming the water may or may not be legal. In
your case it sounds like you have a little spring that pops up and then
disappears. These are very common and I doubt anyone would care. Now if it
was some spring that popped up and had heavy flow and left your property I'd
say call your local conservation office and ask them. It's easy to check
though. For Delaware you can go to
http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/dnrec2000/mail1.htm and ask them if it is
legal.

You normally need a constant source of water to maintain a large pond.
Normally it's the amount of water coming out of a typical garden hose. It
doesn't seem that your pond is going to be that big so the little spring
should be more than enough, especially if runoff from surrounding area can
make it into it.

I was told by a contractor when I was designing my pond that the vertical
level of a spring limits the height of a pond. I was then told by another
contractor that this wasn't always the case. My pond is feed by 8 or so
springs all of varying heights. I can see some springs under 2 feet of water
still pushing water up into the pond.

Sam

"DelawareDave" wrote in message
...
First, I'm new to this group. If this post is better placed somewhere
else,
please let me know.

I have a "V" shaped gully in my slightly sloped wooded backyard with an
apparent VERY SMALL spring of constant water running through the bottom of
it.

I'd like to "dam-up" this gully and make a pond - ideally with water feed
from this apparent spring. Here's my questions:

1. What do I do about a liner ? Should I put one big liner in the hole
?
Should the liner cover the water source ? Should I cut a hole in the
liner
over the small water source ? Should I try to lay several pieces in the
hole to reduce percolation to increase water level ?

2. What water level overall can I expect ? The "V" gully is about 3
vertical feet deep and has a very small water flow. Is the current
vertical level of the flow the highest I can ever expect ? If I line
portions of this gully - can I realistically expect the hole to fill (and
sustain filled) a level 3 feet higher than the current level ?

There's something here to do with the hydrostatic level of the source -
which I don't know and am interested in suggestions on how to test.

Thanks !!!!