I need your help OB.

I am sure some of you on here have built your own lake.

What is an estimated cost per acre to build a lake? I assume there are many variable to influence the cost. Just looking for a reasonable estimate.

I would guess something like 15 - 20 acres that averages about 6 to 10 feet.

thats a realllllllllly big lake

and not very deep


Call your local NRCS office (usually in the county seat under USDA-FSA or USDA-ASCS)

Depends a lot on the ground you are working with.

That's not deep at all for the size.

And would take about 55 million gallons of water for 17 acres at 10 feet deep.

The dirt work would be VERY expensive. You'd be looking at probably 100 dollars per cubic yard of dirt moved and that is a crap ton of dirt to move.

[This message has been edited by OnlyForNow (edited 12/27/2010 5:47p).]

Maybe you could check with the Department of Transportation in your area - they are sometimes in the need of 'dirt' and may be able to pay you enough to offset the cost.

Seriously $100 per cubic yard? Damn...

at 20 acres and say eight feet depth (average) that comes (I think) to 260,000 square yards of dirt removed. At $100 bucks a pop, that comes to $26 mil? That's lawyer math - and very bad lawyer math at that.

[This message has been edited by queso1 (edited 12/27/2010 6:01p).]

Queso, I'm wrong then; it's a buck per cubic yard then... decimal is off.

But going that deep, most likely you'll need an excavator and not just a dozer so the price should prolly go up.

This is plus diesel.

So to summarize, you're looking at roughly $300,000.00 for the dirt moving and machine cost.

Plus if you're going to fill that sucker with water... you'll need a well. A well big enough to serve the needs of a pond this big would probably cost you 20-30k.

So looking maybe at $350,000 to build your private lake. If you can pull this off, I'd be willing to offer my environmental and wetland consulting expertise to you to help with construction, planting needs, and fish habitat, etc.

[This message has been edited by OnlyForNow (edited 12/27/2010 6:20p).]

$100 per yard???? Sign me up dude.

I dont mean to be rude, but where do you come up with that number? That number is heavily inflated

[This message has been edited by stroodles (edited 12/27/2010 6:23p).]

I will stock that tank for one meelion dollars.

OFN - I'm not saying you're wrong.

1. My math sucks.

2. I have no knowledge of building lakes/ponds.

TCEQ will be interested in any body of water larger than 4 acres.

Dam (heh heh) straight TA. I had a client with a huge lake on his land and the dam broke. Neighbor ratted him out to the TCEQ and he had to get an engineer involved - the problem was that he already spent several tens of thousands in fixing the dam, and TCEQ wanted him to start over and get an engineer involved.

Im an engineer and would be happy to get involved!

If you decide to take this on, be sure to research and understand the following regulatory approvals that may (or may not) apply:

1. Texas water rights and agric / livestock exemptions - TCEQ
2. Section 404, Clean Water Act - Corps of Engineers
3. Dam safety requirements - TCEQ

I would think topography would be a big factor. Moving a bunch of dirt versus just building a damn present a wide variation in cost. Whether or not the surface will hold water is another key.

Pond Boss is your friend.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php

To trap that much water, you do NOT want to dig. You want to exploit the topography and use any natural depressions/basins/creek channels and a dam, and minimal earth work.

To do that properly will require some engineering.

An excavated hole in the ground will run about $1.50/cy, but finding a site to support a lake that size would be really tough. In the right location, a dam could easily back that much water, but the regulatory permits would be rough, not to mention that the watershed to support that much water would likely necessitate an artificial spillway (drop structure/pipe) of some sort - $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

About the same size as a ski lake. If I recall the last lake I heard figures for was in the 400k range. No wells. The guys at LSF development that's what they do, build ski lakes. Id drop them a line.

MouthBQ98 nailed it. And the earthwork should be around 15 bucks a yard; 1.50 is low and 100 way high.

On second thought, the on site earthwork will probably be closer to 8 or 9 bucks a yard.

[This message has been edited by fireinthehole (edited 12/28/2010 1:15p).]

In this market $1.50 per yard is probably pretty close. It depends on the distance you have to push/move the dirt.

Don't know crap about ponds but keep us updated.

Cost is going to depend on several factors, including, but not limited to:

1. Location - always a factor in construction costs due to travel time for the contractor, parts for repairs, parts for maintenance, fuel consumption costs, refueling costs, etc.

2. Soil type - soil type will depend on what type of equipment is selected, which will further affect the price. If it's a sandy loam type of soil that is relatively easy to dig, then cheaper equipment such as dozers can be implemented. If it's more of a clay mixture, then you'll probably look more into scrapers. With the size you are talking about, odds are that scrapers will be the most efficient in the grand scheme of things.

3. Natural terrain - how much soil are you actually going to move? 10k yards is one thing, 250k yards is completely different. The amount you need to move also will depend on what type of contractor you want to hire, because mom and pop outfits with a D-6 won't be able to move large quantities of dirt.

4. Vegetation - what type of vegetation do you have on site? Low brush and scrub trees are one thing, but if you have a bunch of larger oaks then you are talking about a completely different story and a different cost.

5. Regulations & Permits - from a guy that is a contractor for a living, permits just suck. They are expensive and take about 5x longer to obtain than what anybody tells you. That means if an agency or engineer or contractor tells you that it takes about 2 weeks to get a specific permit, plan on it taking 10 weeks. And you are probably looking at anywhere from 5 to 10 different permits that will be required.

You are talking about a relatively large surface area of water with your initial size. Really to get anywhere near an estimate without knowing most of the details is nothing more than a WAG on anybody's part.

Yes, I was wrong in my first post of the cost per yard of dirt work.

I didn't put my decimal (in my notes) in the correct spot. I thought $100 bucks was high, and yes 1.00-2.00 should be about right with other dirt work costing 7-10.

The consulting company I work for can help you with any and all of the permits you would need.

Just pm me or email me if you'd like us to help; we can also help by taking an inventory of the property for its environmentally sensitive areas (wetlands, creeks, old drainages, etc)

Can't just build a 20 acre lake anywhere you want to. There is a lot that determines where a lake (especially one of that size) will work. I have seen many ponds of various sizes built there never reach 50% of capacity. Runoff, underground springs, creeks, acreage in water shed, etc., etc., etc., go in to figuring this thing. If the cost of material (clay and fill) is available at site is one thing, but if you have to move dirt from another site then you are talking mega bucks. Around $1.50/yard is a decent ballpark figure for material being on site, after that you better have someone that knows what they are doing.

look up soilmovers.com

i talked to nick about doing a pond for me. i was looking at a 5 to 7 acre (surface area) lake. he said depending on soil consistency and how many trees had to be removed (if any), the cost would be about 35k. he said expect about 5k per surface acre, regardless of depth you choose

also, his daughter in an aggie

Do it right the first time.

The house I moved into has a 1.5 acre tank on it that is about 100 feet from the back porch. They used the dirt out of it to build the house up, which is great. Whats not great is that its about 25 feet deep in the middle and holds no water. There is no watershed around it, which is fine, water was going to be pumped into it from a to-be-installed ag well, but still. This is something we have to do and get fixed before filling so it will hold water.

Id like it half as deep and half as big.

quote:

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water was going to be pumped into it from a to-be-installed ag well,

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Wish I had a dollar for every client I have worked with that thought they could do this ...... It had better be a multi-hundred gpm well.

Sell property, buy new property with a lake.

Problem solved.

Thanks everyone for such great responses. I think this project will be more than I am willing to spend. I was estimating $100 - $200k.

My interest is essentially for creating my own private duck hunting oasis. What about purchasing undeveloped land as a more affordable option?

I am thinking post oak savannah that I could bulldoze pocket clearings and then build up levies on all sides that I could flood during the season via a water well.

It is not a permanent lake but may accomplish the same since I only have to flood a couple of feet deep.

Make sure it can hold water. I've heard horror stories about people digging up tens of acres for their pond and it not holding water.

Post oak savanahs don't hold water for reasons. Putting a levee up will only hold water on an area until it drains through the ground.

If you have property in mind that you own or are thinking about buying shoot me an email the consulting firm I work for can help you with this (all aspects)