How would you seal this pond?

First off, I apologize if this is in the wrong place. I couldn't find an exact category.

We started to have this dug out for a pond and ran into cinder and stopped. We wanted the pond here because the water run off from the land goes right past it. It fills up during a heavy rain during the monsoons but drains out within a day or two. At first it drained overnight but due to the sediment slowly filling it back in over time, it has taken just a little bit longer now.
I also realize that the sides should be more of a gradual slope instead of straight up and down. I do not think I can fix the left side because the trees are right there but I can work on the other three sides if needed. We are also thinking of putting the ducks next to it so they can have a pond.
My research only came up with two options. The clay powder or a liner.
Anyway ... thoughts?

Thanks

This is a great thread on the subject, and still my go-to for any questions or discussion on the topic of traditional pond-sealing:

https://permies.com/t/80/38201/Progress-Gleying-Pond-Pigs

I plan to do it myself, having naturally hummocked land with a lot of clay in pockets, and a slope to feed runoff to any number of ponds, sometimes along existing flow channels. I hope to get to that this year, and add to the evolving body of knowledge.

Pigs.

https://permies.com/t/38201/ponds/Progress-Gleying-Pond-Pigs#301338

Or you could use piggies.

https://permies.com/t/38201/ponds/Progress-Gleying-Pond-Pigs#301338

Or perhaps porkers.

https://permies.com/t/38201/ponds/Progress-Gleying-Pond-Pigs#301338

But I'd suggest little bacon makers.

https://permies.com/t/38201/ponds/Progress-Gleying-Pond-Pigs#301338

In all seriousness, if you use the pig method that Michael Newby used in the thread that is posted above, there seem to be a couple of key variables.  First, you'll need a slow trickle of water down into your pond site so that the pigs can create a wallow.  It doesn't look like there is a nearby water source during the dry months so you might need to run a hose out there and connect it to a pump or some other means or drawing water.  I wouldn't imagine it would take much -- even a slow trickle would gradually fill that space over time.  Larger rain events would hasten the process considerably.

Second, the gleying process is a combination of rotting vegetation, pig manure and the bacteria that naturally occurs when these first two ingredients are smashed down into the muddy wallow by the pig hooves.   Any kind of biomass would work, but for simplicity sake, a couple of big bales of grass, hay or straw would work great.  I once saw them seal a pond in Iowa years ago just using lots of mowed grass and weeds.  If you knew anyone who runs a lawn service and bags their grass clippings, that would work fantastic.  Basically, as the pigs are wallowing in the mud, you continue to provide food and continually add a layer of green biomass around the edges growing pond.  They'll roll around on this like any animal would lay on straw in a barn.  As the water slowly rises, the pigs mash that biomass down into the mud, poop all over everything, and seal the pond with this slurry of poop and bacteria.

Third, Michael integrated ducks into his pond system so that there would be an ongoing layer of poop being added throughout the year.

Comparatively, his site looked like nothing but fine stones and sand.  Your site looks much more promising.  Its crazy that from that, he was able to create a pond and a rich ecosystem that surrounds it.

Best of luck.

You could try using Bentonite clay powder which you can purchase at most waterwell drilling supply outlets.
I have to admit I had not heard of using the pigs as another had mentioned. However where I am in Ohio
We are not permitted to have pigs on our property due to groundwater contamination. Using them to seal off your pond
Might cause groundwater issues later..

I think you could use a pond liner here.  I'm not seeing any ponding water, so you might have to insist on keeping it there.   If the water hasn't been ponding naturally,  and you want to use it soon, it's an easy way to go.  Let it be a natural pond, not necessarily blue water, and you can tweak it as time passes.  You can use some heavy stones to hold the edge in place.  As the birds, ducks come to trust it --  and they may only spend the night on it, so you might not see them -- it might not be drinking water quality, but if it holds steady in depth it's a reliable way to test it.

Jim, what kind of soil is it? It looks like clay but you say that the water drains quickly.

Just throwing a possibly crazy idea out there but if you have wild pigs in your area I wonder if you put a game feeder there with corn if that would be enough to attract them there to wallow and defecate and get the pond gleying process started?  I wonder if it would even work with deer too if there are no feral pigs in the area? Maybe try putting out a salt block too for an extra attractant. If it was me I'd put a game camera there to monitor the activity.

I used to build rather substantial lakes for rich folks back in the day. I cannot even begin to guess the tons of bentonite I have excavated out of failed projects that were still a failure after the bentonite was used.

For a decent pond you got two options.  3' of plated clay in the bottom or a plastic liner.  Quick check-------  grab a handful of your soil and moisten it enough to form a ball about the size of a golfball in your hand.  Make sure it is uniformly moist and it should hold together nicely.  Take a bottle of water and pour it across the soil ball.  If it dissolves and washes away your soil is not suitable for a lake or pond.

BTW,  you anchor a pond liner by digging a trench 1-2' ABOVE the waterline and putting the edges of the liner fully down into the trench.   You backfill the trench after the liner is complete.

Final step was to put at least 1' of dirt on top of the liner using a dozer with an extremely skilled operator.

It usually costs 3X more than the original cost of the failed project to 'fix it right'.  Do it right the first time or just don't do it.  A large percentage of folks are going to end up with an unsightly wet weather mudhole and little else.