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We are building a house on some stripmined land. Behind the house is an old highwall (a vertical rock face where thery dug the dirt away). The highwall is about 40 feet high and 65 feet wide. A the bottom of the wall is a pond that fills after the rain and slowly drains or dries away. I think it drains out the bottom but I don't know for sure. At its' fullest the pond is about 25 ft wide and 75 ft long but usually is about half that. I have never seen it completely empty. Lots of frogs live there. The water is prettry black which I think is from the leaves of diciduous trees beside the pond. I would like to build a waterfall maybe about two feet wide to fall over the center of the rock down to the pond below. There are three problems I foresee.
Problem one how do I keep the pond from shrinking. I know I will probably have to empty it first. Then do I cover the bottom with concrete or can I spray stuff to waterproof it. The ground is mostly sand with lots of rocks (shale and sandstone) with a think covering of humus. At the bottom of the pond I expect guck. I do not have a lot of money but am willing to work at it. Should also mention here there are two REALLY BIG rocks in the pond about 4 ft tall by3 ft wide by 6 ft long is the biggest the other is about 3ft tall by 2 ft by 3ft so I would have to work around them. Is it silly to do this without usung a bobcat or something? Any idea how much any solutions might cost? When the pond is done I want it to have fish and plants.
Problem two how do I make the waterfall? I could make a pond further up the hill and build a stream or simply pipe water from it to the top of the rock. Or I could pump the water from the pond to the top of the rock. Which would be better?
Problem three pond maintenance. I would like to prevent or a least minimize mosquitoes and algae. I have heard about using barley straw does that work? What is the best way to deal with leaves falling in the pond.
Thanks
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