Farm Pond Basics

What does it take to add a farm pond, recreational lake or fishing lake to your property?

People here in the Southwest have a thing about water.  Maybe it is because it is so arid or maybe it s because of a more rural lifestyle where farmers and ranchers are dependent on stock tanks.  For whatever reasons, we love our farm ponds and recreational fishing lakes.  Just to give you some perspective, Virginia has about 50,000 privately owned farm ponds and recreational fishing lakes while Texas has over 800,000!

If you are visiting us as more than just a casual internet surfer it must be because you have an idea you want a farm pond or fishing lake constructed on your own property.  You have probably been out driving and seen the perfect farm pond or fishing lake.  It caught your eye because it was attractive, blended in with the landscape and most certainly it added to the land owner's pleasure.  Properly constructed farm ponds and recreational fishing lakes also add to the property value. A farm pond or fishing lake is a major construction project.  Proper site planning,  experienced construction and necessary equipment put it out of reach of most landowners.  We see many more poorly constructed farm ponds and fishing lakes than we do water features that enhance your recreational experience and property value.  Properly done, a farm pond or recreational fishing lake will add tens of thousands of dollars of value to your property.

So where do you start?   Many people will decide on a location simply because it is appealing. Their next step is to find someone, a friend of a friend or just some unknown advertiser in the Yellow Pages, to actually do the excavation.  Most of the time, the results are disappointing to say the least!

We have provided a link to an article written by the Soil Conservation Service that goes into great detail regarding farm pond construction. It is 51 pages of graphs, tables and mathematical calculations. Read through the article for a better understanding of the many facets involved with proper farm pond and recreational lake construction. Not your cup of tea?  We hope most people will realize an excavation project of this nature is better left to the experts.

"The proposition of redoing an improperly constructed  farm pond or fishing lake is always  more expensive then the initial pond construction."