Swamp like area into a series of ponds

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by Aircut, Jul 13, 2013.

  1. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    Hello All!

    I hope i am posting to the right forum

    I have a question to the experts in the forum. I have a parcel of land in a tropical zone of about 6 acres. Almost an acre of which (335 sqm) is an area which is all year round wet

    [​IMG]

    ....and is part of a crater like depression which is draining to a river (yellow circle in the picture).I would like to shape the wet land which a picture of it is attached, to a series of three interconnected ponds, the area in question is about 120mt x 35mt (marked green in the picture).

    [​IMG]

    Ideally the ponds will occupy about half of the area, so the dirt digged up would use to fill in the other half.
    I would like to shape the land with minimum earth work as possible and pose no obstacles on the natural flow of water, and of course not creating floods/stagnation on the neighbors land.

    [​IMG]

    I am attaching a third image with an idea of the ponds system. Can you please provide insight on it?
    Your time and insight is much appreciated.
     
  2. matto

    matto Junior Member

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    Hi Aircut,

    Have a look at the work Cam Wilson is doing at www.earthintegral.com

    Trees and vegetation that can handle the inundations will help reduce the water table and become a great wildlife habitat and reserve fodder zone.
     
  3. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    Thanks Matto for the pointer. i will check it out. much appreciated !
     
  4. aroideana

    aroideana Junior Member

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    What climate are you in ? Some great tropical aquatics around .
     
  5. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    i am located in northern thailand
     
  6. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Hi Aircut,
    I've thought about your ponds since you posted. It appears that your neighbor has done something similar, but on a smaller scale, on the lower block in your last picture. This seems to be validation that your idea is sound. Not sure about Thailand, but around my area, swamps are usually old lakes or ponds that have slowly filled in over the centuries. I would imagine that your plan will merely "re-pond" what has become a swampy area.

    I wonder about how you'll get excavating equipment into the swamp to remove the soil for the ponds? Is it marshy/soft? Your care in maintaining the water flow and not impinging upon your neighbors property are key to the success of your project I think.
     
  7. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    Thank you for responding. Similar small ponds are abondant in that area so i will probably consult with the locals on the technicalities of shaping one. On another note. Considering that the length is over 100 meters. are they any pointers on best depth and shapes? I will use the ponds primarily as aesthetic landscape feature with fish growing. I have enough water running through the land in an aquaduct from a nearby reservoir. So I will not need the ponds to serve as a water storage. Thanks
     
  8. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    Do you know much about Chinampas Aircut? Would that be an option for you?
     
  9. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    yes, i heard about chinampas, however, i dont try to turn the area into agriculture producing area, what i really want is lake/pond view. i am battling now with the most efficient shape and the way to connect the smaller ponds to create a smooth as possible natural flow with the most interesting view. thai farming forums are saying that in depth over 3 meters fishes tends to remain smaller compare to the 10 meters deep ponds usually use to store water. so i was thinking of three - four interconnected ponds with different shapes and depth, and i am open to suggestions.

    thank you for keeping the dialogue open
     
  10. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Different shapes and depths will create different ecosystems and allow for diversity. It's also closer to a natural water course.
     
  11. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    I agree with eco. I like your shape in the original sketch you posted .... sort of two ponds connect by a small canal with lots of "edge". Multiple depths are good and having especially deep areas will give your fish hiding places from predatory birds and mammals. Your shallower areas will be home to a variety of cleansing water plants.
     
  12. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    Great! Thank you. You were very helpful. Back to lurking mode....
     
  13. camwilson79

    camwilson79 Junior Member

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    Hi Aircut

    In your proposed design image, it looks like the spoil will be placed across the current wetland to help form the pond. One thing to be careful of is that if you raise the level of water at all you'll create a greater hydraulic gradient, which can displace groundwater and cause another bog to form downhill.

    If you are going to carry out something like this, try to retain a number of shallow sections, particularly where water exits. I'm talking from an aquatic-plant water-filtering point of view but even for an aesthetic pond, which seems to be your goal, you'll end up with a more natural feel.

    I hope you're into composting or mulching because if you want a water view you're going to have a very regular task cleaning out water hyacinth because since it's established on site, you're pretty much guaranteed that it will be there for good.

    All the best, Cam
     
  14. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    Thank you for your insight. The design calls to digging the wetland area deeper in some area and using the digged up dirt to cover the other parts, thus shaping the desired pond shape. i will not change the levels height of the out flow of the eater to the river (somewhat downhill). so i assume that this is not going to be a problem ... i do appreciate your comment , thanks again!
     
  15. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    Hello Group

    Here is the final pond design. roughly 32 meters wide and 81 meters long, with a slop of 1 meters deep to every 3 meters.
    maximum depth is 3 meters. spill off to the river below

    north is to the right of the image.

    It would serve as
    1. recreational and aesthetic
    2. fire barrier from a downhill teak forest
    3. fish pond

    there is enough free agriculture water from a nearby dam so we wont use it as a water reservoir.

    any comments on the design would be appreciated

    View attachment 2036
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Rick Larson

    Rick Larson Junior Member

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    More fingers will create more edge effect. :)
     
  17. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Excellent diagram! Please keep us updated on your progress in constructing your design.
     
  18. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I think it's great!
     
  19. Aircut

    Aircut Junior Member

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    It took us 40 days to complete the work. I am happy to report that it is a success !

    we started by improving water drainage from the wetland by excavating an obstructed river, and digging parallel drainage canals.

    we had also to remove the top clay muddy layer and replace it temporarily with soil in order to allow the heavy equipment an access road

    just for orientation:

    Black lines: property border
    Sky blue: Pond location
    Blue line: excavated river
    Brown line: Temporary access road for the heavy equipment
    Red lines: Water flow directions from a higher elevation water reservoir
    Yellow lines: temporary canals to divert away water

    [​IMG]

    we started by digging test holes that proved that we are at the ground water table level

    [​IMG]

    here is how the slippery top layer looked like

    [​IMG]

    we had to bring in soil, remove the slippery top layer and create an access road to the heavy equipment

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    once done, we started with digging the deepest part of the pond first. hitting an underground stream of clean, filtered underground water.

    [​IMG]

    we marked with white gypsum where we want the pond to reach it's maximum depth

    [​IMG]

    we measured distance from the pond banks to create a 3:1 slope (length:depth)

    View attachment 2269

    the earth eater start working

    [​IMG]

    once the earth eater finished, we ended up with piles of earth and clear water gradually filling up the pond

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    we closed the temporary drainage canals we excavated earlier in the construction

    [​IMG]

    we spread the excavated soil to raise our property from the neighbors terraced rice paddies

    [​IMG]

    than we re-shaped and adjusted the pond depth in area need correction

    [​IMG]

    that disturbed the water tinting it chocolate color

    here is the pond almost ready

    [​IMG]

    next we did some earthworks on the river we excavated earlier in the project

    [​IMG]

    adding a spillway between the lower part of the pond and the river

    [​IMG]

    we also placed some teak trees stumps to create beaver like dams, and small waterfalls

    [​IMG]

    voila

    [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

  20. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Great! Huge amount of work!!

    It would be nice if you can continue to post on the results, what works and what didn't etc.

    I did a water habitat course once and you can improve those logs you are throwing in by boring hollows into them with drills, chainsaws, whatever. Not to say that isn't a great snag for animals.

    Where's the plants? Is that next? What are you planting? I think you are in an awesome locale to throw in lots of Vetiver.
     

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