Greetings from Zimbabwe. We have an earth dam which has been leaking. The vegetation had grown which may have contributed to it. I have two questions -
I understand tree roots aren’t great, but how about reeds? Can we allow them to remain? They’re lovely to see birds nesting but I’m not sure about the impact of the roots. We’ve temporarily removed the reeds as per photo, in order to apply a product to fix leaks but don’t know if we should allow them to grow back or not.
Does anyone have experience with DamFix product or similar? Damfix Our earth dam is currently dry so it’s not ideal for application. Any other ideas for fixing leaks? We don’t have a budget for any sort of liner.
“Other Treatments
Other methods of sealing ponds
include the use of animals, pud-
dling, and gley (organic matter).
A traditional remedy has been to
fence pigs, cattle or other animals
in the pond basin. Livestock
manure aids in sealing the pond
bottom, and animals trampling
the pond bottom compacts a
deeper layer of soil. This method
gives mixed results and can cause
nutrient pollution of surface or
ground water until the pond seals
up.
Puddling refers to the deliberate
churning of soupy wet soil. Fines
released from the soil during the
mixing form a barrier of low per-
meability as they settle out on top
of heavier particles. Soils must
contain some clay and silt parti-
cles in order for puddling to
work. Puddling forms a seal that
has little strength, so it is not suit-
able for thin soil layers over rock.
Puddling is used primarily in
small dugout ponds or to create
zones of low permeability within
larger dams that are otherwise
constructed to structurally sup-
port the weight of impounded
water.
Burying a 6-inch-thick layer of
organic matter, typically straw or
a manure-straw mixture, in a
pond bottom has been used as a
sealing method. Once the organic
matter is spread over the pond
basin, it should be covered with
soil and compacted firmly.
Microbial action converts the
material to a “gley,” an organic
layer of low permeability. This
method does not form a seal
quickly and unwanted nutrients
might flow into surface waters
until a seal is formed.”
Hooved animal traffic can provide incredible compaction. Many years ago at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency we attempted to measure seepage from cow yards. Even in sandy soils seepage was undetectable. The road road construction implement called a sheepsfoot roller is named for this effect. Moist, not we soils are best for compaction. Compaction on the slope of the dike might be a little problematic.
