The inital design of pond or lake may be the most important factor in determining the long-term health of the waterbody. Location, depth, side slopes, watershed influences, containment basins, control structures, water sources and long-term maintenance are important considerations that ABI will address well before any excavation begins. Our staff can provide assistance with permits and licenses, and help coordinate work with excavators, well-drillers and landscapers. Our experience in pond development encompasses a variety of site conditions. ABI strives to design and construct the majority of our ponds to appear as naturally occurring features.
The pond design process begins by compiling a list of goals property owners wish their new waterbody to possess. ABI will then go about determining any restrictions to these goals with respect to permitting and existing site conditions (e.g. water availability, topography). Our ultimate goal is to meet or exceed our client's expectations, cost-effectively, while ensuring that the pond will appear and function as intended for the long-term.
Proper design produces larger fish, less sediment, better temperature, clearer water, fewer nuisance weeds, greatly reduced maintenance expense and a more natural appealing environment. A small investment in proper design, results in considerable savings of money, efforts, and risk over the life of the lake or pond.
Below are a few of the questions we ask our customers to consider during or even before thier inital consultation.
- What is your preference for length vs. width?
- What percentage of this lake would you want dedicated to waterfowl habitat vs. the fishery if any?
- Deeper ponds are normally easier to manage and can carry a higher fish population. Waterfowl prefer more of a shallow water environment. How do you anticipate dividing this pond based on a percentage? Fish __% Waterfowl __%?
- How many fish would you like to catch per hour?
- What water clarity depth is important to you? 1’, 3’, 5’, 10’?
- Is it mandatory or necessary for this pond to receive surface water runoff?
- Do you anticipate this lake to have a walking path, driveway, piers, fishing docks, and/or accesses around the entire perimeter? If so, we will need to know the approximate size and location of each as they may change the contours of the lake perimeter and/or lakebed.
- What is your tolerance for floating mats of algae?
- Do nearby waterbody have invasive aquatic plants such as Eurasian Water Milfoil, or curly leaf pondweed? Has floating algae been a concern in the past to nearby ponds?
- Is there any contour to the proposed pond site and property that will allow for a bottom discharge and or a water level control structure?
- Must your state or other government agency approve the proposed pond construction site? If so, has this been done?
- Have you taken soil borings throughout the proposed site?
- How irregular of a shoreline design are you anticipating?
- What is your preferred shoreline (buffer) appearance at the waters edge throughout the pond’s parameter: native plants, prairie plants, wetland plants, waterfowl food plots, etc.?
- What is your proposed lake maximum depth? Why have you chosen this depth?
- What is your proposed lake average depth? Why have you chosen this depth?
- Will electricity be available for lake aeration? Lighting? Supplemental fish feeding? Water pumps? Other?
- Have test holes been dug to identify soil types and to be assured a secured water table exists? If so, what were your findings?
- Have you preformed any basic water chemistry? We will need this information to know if the pond will be able to support a reproductive fishery. Some of the parameters to have tested would include pH, alkalinity, nitrates, nitrites, total phosphorus, etc.
- Have any of the subsoils been evaluated for percent organics or total phosphorous?
- Is there a building, cabin, or home view that should be considered in the design?
- How far away is this proposed lake from other sources of water? We are asking this in light of natural stocking of crayfish, frogs, snails, clams, water bugs, etc.
- What percentage of the lake shoreline can you accept aquatic plantings in?
- Are you concerned with privacy? Should privacy berms be added to the pond design to block the pond’s view from roadways, other housing, etc. while maintaining a natural “shape” to the pond itself?
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