Hello all -

Military intel, I know, retiring as a bird colonel after 23 years of serving this great country of ours. Ponds...not so much. Got a reco for a guy to excavate a new pond, about 1/3 acre (see pic) here in Hardee County, FL.

Soil is very sandy. Pond filled up quite a lot as bottom of about 10 ft draws from the elevated water table (tremendous rains here - Aug/Sep wettest since 1890) and I have been slowly adding some well water through hose to fill further.

Here's my question: just rainwater runs down into this pond - no other flowing water - and the soil erosion to the pond bank is incredible - see 2 pics.

Now, this pond was dug just 2 weeks ago. And I have had another guy furrow & seed the bare area around the pond - and even into its banks - with Bahia grass seed. We did this last Saturday and that seed is now just starting to germinate.
And common sense tells me that if and when some sort of roots take hold on these banks (from Bahia grass or some sort of shorescaping plants - saw a good article about those from Clemson U)that the erosion would be at a much slower pace because there would be something to hold the soil in place.

But what do I do about this massive erosion right now, some of which looks like some C4 exploded there? Can't leave it like it is as someone can break a leg if they don't pay attention.

Dumping more of this sandy soil in to the crevasses seems to be a waste as it would appear to just erode again. What alternatives do I have?

Next week, I'm having some fellows put in a 3/4 HP Kasco aerator with an LED light set modified to run red, white & blue, to pay tribute to all the outstanding men & women I served with.

Any suggestions to this old colonel would be most appreciated!