This winter, the pond is
looking pretty grim.
But Look!!!!!
There is hope!!!!
Actually, there is more than just hope. Just weeks after the Junipers were removed, water started collecting in the
area. The hot fall weather dried it up again.
Late in the spring of 2005, I took a small back-hoe digger to the spring site and dug a small hole. It is about 3 feet
deep. During the June gathering, some us hiked up to the spring to see how is was doing. Below is what we found.
And about 15 feet down-hill of the hole I dug, the water is coming to the surface on its own.
One of the projects to be completed by next fall is to create a real retaining pond in this area and then to fence it all off
with wildlife friendy fencing so that the wildlife can get in and use it but the cow can't. We will set up a piping system to
take water to a trough outside of the fence so that the cows have a place to drink.
Eventually, we will plant some Aspens or other non-invasive trees around the spring to provide shade.
Cost analysis:
Excavator: 1 day @ $275.00 per day
200 yds of four strand perimeter fence wire
2 strands of barbed wire = 400 yds barbed wire $55.00
2 strands of smooth wire = 400 yds smooth wire $43.00
60 fence posts @ $318.00
6 rock-jacks - 10 ft each of hog wire style fence = 60 ft fence $43.00
1 10 ft farm gate - $63.00
Labor required:
Operating excavator- approximately 8 hours
Building rock-jacks - approximately 24 hours
Driving fence posts 8 hours
Stringing fence - 8 hours
Hanging gate - 6 hours
Approximate totals: $780.00 and 54 man hours
Hanna's Spring
I started visiting the property
about 12 years ago. At that
time, this spring holding pond
held about 150 gallons of
water for most of the year.
The pond was very healthy. It
had frogs in it every year. It
was fairly shaded so the water
did not evaporate quickly.
Unfortunately, the trees
providing that shade were
Juniper trees. As the years
passed and the Junipers
grew, the water level dropped.
The frogs disappeared. The
aguatic vegatation
disappeared. And finally, the
water disappeared.
This picture was taken last
spring and as you can see,
the only remnants of the
previous water source is the
green grass. This picture was
taken just after all of the
encroaching Junipers had
been removed.
