Hey Permies.com,
I hope this is the right forum. My father just had a dam put in (bulldozer-style). There was previously a dam in the same place, though it slowly degraded over time and some neighbor sped up the process by digging it out further so that they could catch remaining fish in a wire.... yeah I'm down in Kentucky, stuff happens!
I would like to know what kind of habitat you would set up if given this blank slate:
Approximately 150 feet in diameter, ~11 feet deep at its deepest, double-spring fed
pond, with adequate rain catchment from a hillside above (it
should retain similar
water levels year-round). It is approximately two weeks old. It is largely shaded by a stand of 10-20yr mixed conifer and deciduous (mostly cedar). This
pond will be fenced off from livestock (it has a drain pipe with a float and weight keeping it mid-depth in the pond, leading to an eventual float-valved stock tank on the other side of the dam). The soil all around is mostly red clay (no soil test as of yet, so I can not provide specifics). The dam and surrounding area disturbed by the bulldozer has been seeded in fescue, aside from a section of hillside above the dam bulldozed as an access, which was seeded with fescue/a shade loving variety I have forgotten the name of. The zone is 6b or 6/7 (south-central KY, USA).
What kinds of plants would you care to see in this place? What kinds of vertebrate and invertebrate? Would you directly plant/release any species? Would you sit back and see what happens as time progresses?
Our current plan of action is:
[li]In the fall introduce bluegill and channel catfish, followed by bass in the spring (the population sizes will be determined by a Dept of Fish and Wildlife resources agent who will come measure the pond size). This is their system they've established over time... set the bluegill and catfish in the fall and they'll reproduce a bit before the water cools down too much during winter, then in spring introduce bass which will hunt down bluegill and catfish (I am not sure on the catfish, will they?)[/li]
[li]If I were to live here full time (not yet determined), install a variety of giant bamboo that will survive in this zone for use in the garden/as guttering for a future house, and I am sure many other uses. Without my promise to live here full time my father does not want it installed as he is lacking in the energy to keep it contained year after year.[/li]
[li]Introduce some kind of water lillies (father's desire)[/li]
I would love any ideas. There are other areas on this property that may be dammed up in the future (one is spring fed, the other would just be a large water catchment ploy), so this is an ongoing thought process that could be improved upon, though the site conditions will vary.
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