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Contemplating a pen expansion (red) and catchment excavation (blue).
Posted by John Wells at 6:24 PM Labels: more fence 
that would be a huge undertaking… ~2xs the existing plus heavy earthmoving equipment for the spa… I mean basin… plus a lot of roadside rustling access - on the other hand, a much larger Ben & pals playground. You have a post estimate yet? That ground doesn't get any softer.

August 28, 2015 at 6:46 PM 
wow. remember how worn out you were settin' those last posts. looks nice though.

August 28, 2015 at 6:51 PM 
Waiting on the fence estimate...the ground in that area is easy on posts. Have access to a free front end loader/backhoe.

August 28, 2015 at 6:55 PM ßeulah ßee said...

what is a catchment evacuation?

August 28, 2015 at 8:58 PM 
Do you intend to line the catchment. The last damned up area if I remember, wouldn't hold water.

August 28, 2015 at 10:07 PM 

August 28, 2015 at 11:30 PM 
just in case you missed it,

rock on remmij,
you're awesome.

-uncle ricky

August 28, 2015 at 11:56 PM 
Takes a lot of Chihuahuan Desert- to feed even one Longhorn steer! An alternative plan - if the land contours would permit this - would be long low levees - that would cause runoff rainwater to irrigate the maximum number of acres. This would significantly improve grass growth in the flooded areas. It would put the runoff water to work immediately - helping to grow grass and other vegetation - before the water is simply lost to evaporation (from an uncovered stock pond). A significant advantage - would be the ease of repairing a damaged low levee - compared to rebuilding a broken stock pond dam.

August 29, 2015 at 9:26 AM 
Fifty years ago when I bought my property, other and older people were buying land also for their someday retirement. Everyone was very excited. When I finally came back here, the couple in back of me was not here yet. The lady was saving the land for her grandchildren. The land was recently sold. The lady's husband had been killed when a forklift or backhoe rolled over and crushed him on the job. They never built.

August 29, 2015 at 10:35 AM 
the EPayA may be watching…
pricey pond

August 29, 2015 at 1:37 PM 
I'm OK as long as it doesn't catch and hold more than 65,170,285.71 gallons...

August 29, 2015 at 3:11 PM 
Driving around the hill country, there is a pond where horses stayed. No horses now, and the water might be stagnant.

August 29, 2015 at 3:18 PM 
…it's always that last .71 of a gallon

August 29, 2015 at 4:46 PM 
…stocked the pond here with fish - not sure what they are eating, but they seem to be thriving:
(might be careless kayakers?)
pond fish

a little vacation from tfl - the Cortes Bank - might influence your basin topography

August 29, 2015 at 5:27 PM 
Very interesting remmij about the Cortes Bank. When I was about 12 I was in the area surfing on smaller crests. Got under one one time and was pounded into shore. Running out of air and helpless. Scary.

August 29, 2015 at 6:51 PM 
Was just reading yesterday where EPA fined a guy 16 million for digging a pond in Wyoming. Under the new rules, if you have a mud puddle in your driveway ,they have jurisdiction. If you can't refrain from doing it, Jeff Lawton is pretty good at transforming desert with swales.

August 29, 2015 at 8:27 PM 
The EPA fined Andrew Johnson in Wyoming because he dammed Six Mile Creek for his "stock pond" -which it is not. He failed to get all the necessary permits, including from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. They are the ones that notified the EPA. Also, that Creek runs through his neighbors property and has had an impact on the amount of water going down stream. I bet you guys wouldn't be happy if I purchased property upstream from you, dammed it, and made pond (purely for aesthetics I might add, he tried to use the stock pond loophole but they saw through it).

Now turn off FoxNews and do some research.

Here I even did some of the work for you:

Take his address from the PDF above and google his property. You can clearly see how his "stock pond" can have an impact on those down stream.

August 29, 2015 at 9:19 PM 

August 30, 2015 at 8:23 AM 
John - Texas spells it out pretty clearly. Looking forward to seeing your project unfold.

Just remember - "The intent of the D&L exemption from permitting is that the D&L users will share the water. "

August 30, 2015 at 12:07 PM 
I would try hugelkulture type retainment. Vegetation aka grass does much better job of water retention then damming.

September 1, 2015 at 5:23 PM