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The "Pond"
All of my life I have wanted a pond. Every time I drove past people's small ponds I would stare with a wide open mouth in awe. From the smallest Koi/Goldfish pond to the largest ones located at state parks I loved looking at the water and seeing the wildlife zipping around being wildlife.
The pond is roughly 4.5 acres with 1.5 acres of wetlands and marshes. It has trees up against the water line and also somewhat back from the water to provide additional habitat types.
Remember, it's all about providing different wildlife habitats, not just providing land or space. The pond is 20 feet deep in some parts and it's estimated to contain at least 16,000,000 gallons of water. More than 144,000 gallons of water enter and leave the pond each day through multiple springs and ground runoff. There are at least 5 springs that feed the pond. Two 2 foot wide pipes provide a path for the water to exit the pond. Directly above them is an emergence spillway incase they can't handle it. To get a perspective most swimming pools are 25,000 gallons of water.
Most of my projects start out with, "I've never built a INSERT PROJECT HERE before" and this project isn't any different. By now you should be getting the feeling that this whole wildlife project is mainly done by just jumping in feet first. Truthfully though, wild ideas just pop into my head and I launch full force into doing them but I do try to do as much research as I can.
I can not even begin to explain how much knowledge I have gained about things from building a pond. At times I felt like my head was going to explode. Most people think you dig a hole and it fills up and that's it. One day Geneva was telling a few yuppies about the pond and they asked if we used a garden hose to fill it up....
I've learned about geology, mining, plants, fish, amphibians, trees, engineering, water quality,
erosion, and so many other things. I spent hundreds of hours sucking in so much knowledge I almost passed out. It was well worth it though. I've learned that the more you know about the world outside of your house the more you stop and
appreciate things when you see them.
And isn't that what life's about, appreciating things? I mean on your death bed do you want to reflect back on life and remember all the times you sat inside and relish over all the episodes of Bay Watch that you've seen?
Probably not.
Click to get more info:
The Building of the Pond
The Stocking of the Pond
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