POND OF HAPPY TEARS

Prior to purchase of the property, my wife Mary and I explored the property with a real estate agent. She saw this view of the ranch house at this spot and started crying "It's so beautiful." We decided to dig a pond on this site because it drained from surrounding hills and we later discovered there were two underground springs feeding this area. Thus the name "Pond of Happy Tears."

Future site of the Pond of Happy Tears.

It was necessary to dig test holes to get soil samples for analysis as to the liklihood of a pond that would hold water.

Without much knowledge of soil composition, we thought it a good sign that we came to very think hard clay (yellow) deep in the test holes.

We obtained soil samples for the US Dept of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of Missouri to decide if the pond would hold water.  Their analysis of the samples revealed Mano, Ocie, and Gatewood soils suitable for pond building. Yellowish brown unified CH (high shrink swell) clay was in the substratum.  Dolostone bedrock was 8 - 10 feet under the soil.

Once the desired area for the pond was verified as viable, we waited for dry weather and then employed two large bulldozers to cut the pond and create a dam. They worked long hours over three days to complete before any rainfall.  In the photo on the left, you can see the exposed subsurface spring on bedrock.

This picture was taken after some rains - it is filling quickly. Note in the foreground the feeder spring is revealed.  That channel will need to be dug out. That's tricky because now there is deep mud. If you look on the left of the picture, there is bedrock; it turns out there is a steep drop off of the bedrock, making a nice waterfall effect once cleared.

Another project was to create a dock. We started this just as the pond was filling.  Precise laser measurements were used to assure the top of the dock was  just above the anticipated level of the pond.  Treated wood was used for the pillar supports and rough sawed oak lumber for the deck.  We regret that we didn't treat that then to avoid rotting. The deck had to be partially replaced after a few years.

Here is the pond after a year or two.  A spill-over trench was created to disallow water spilling over the sides of the dam, creating erosion, and to regulate the level of the water.

Here is the spill-way. It found it's own path to one of the "rivers" emptying into the Gasconade River. 

Pond is still filling up.   You can see the tip of several tree stumps we placed in the deepest section of the pond to help create an ecosystem for the pond inhabitants.

​We stocked the pond for free via the Department of Conservation of Missouri.  The idea mix was about equal numbers of bass, bluegill and catfish (shown here).  Happy Tears Mary is doing the honors.

It worked!