PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
We build ponds and stock tanks on Edwards Plateau limestone, where the honest question is not how big but whether the ground will hold it. We answer that before you spend a dollar on dirt work.
It is the first question worth asking here, and the one most builders skip. Kerrville sits on the Edwards Plateau, and plateau limestone is fractured rock. Water finds fractures. Some sites hold beautifully on a clay seam nobody expected, and some will drain a full pool in a season. We will not pretend to know which one you have from the road, but we have built enough water in this county to have a well founded opinion before a machine ever rolls.
The soils over most of Kerr County are shallow and stony, sitting straight on Edwards and Glen Rose limestone. In a lot of places there is barely a foot of dirt before the bit hits rock, and that rock is jointed. A basin cut into fractured limestone with no clay under it is a very expensive way to water the aquifer.
So we tell you what we know and we are straight about what we do not. We have built ponds on this limestone and we know how it behaves, county by county and draw by draw, from the jobs we have already done around here. What nobody can do is see through your dirt from a phone call. Where the ground turns out to need help, you hear it from us the moment we know, and sometimes that moment is standing in the hole.
Where the clay is not there, the fix is a compacted clay liner hauled in, a bentonite treatment worked into the basin, or a synthetic liner on the sites that warrant it. Every one of those is a line item you see in writing before you agree to anything. We do not discover them halfway through and hand you a change order.
The same steep country that makes the rock a problem makes the water a gift. Kerr County terrain sheds rain hard and quickly, so a correctly sited pond here can go from dry to full in a single wet stretch rather than waiting out a season of drizzle.
That cuts both ways, and it is why spillway sizing is not a formality on this ground. The Guadalupe drainage is flash flood country. A pond built with a spillway sized for gentle rain is a pond that loses its dam the first time a real storm parks over the divide. We size the emergency spillway for what this watershed actually does.
Site it right and the reward is the thing people move to the Hill Country for: water held in a limestone bowl with oaks and cedar around it, wildlife on it within weeks, and a property that is worth more the day it fills.
A Kerr County pond build runs in a set order, and the first step is the one that decides whether the rest is worth doing.
Send photos of the spot, a rough size, and your town. You get a ballpark from the published list the same day, and if it sounds right we set a time to walk the property. No pressure loop, no form-and-wait.
Your first number comes over the phone. We have built a lot of water in this country and we know what the ground does here, so we can give you a real range from a conversation, photos, and a pin rather than making you wait on a visit. Once you approve the estimate we come walk it with you. On the plateau we are reading how the ground lies, where the water actually arrives from in a hard rain, what has to be cleared, and whether a loaded truck can reach the spot. If anything we see changes the number, you hear it then rather than at the end.
A real number in machine days: what the dig costs, what the dam costs, what happens if we hit rock, and what the clearing adds if the site is brushed up. The price on paper is the price, and any rock contingency is spelled out instead of buried.
A lowboy shows up with the dozer and excavator, usually within a few weeks of a signed quote. We need a gate the iron fits through and a spot for the trailer, and we handle the rest.
Two to five working days for most ponds. Topsoil gets stripped and saved, the core trench gets cut, the dam goes up in compacted lifts, and the basin takes shape a bench at a time. You are welcome on site every day of it, at a safe distance from the swing radius.
Before the machines load, we walk the pond with you: dam, spillway, slopes, and the topsoil dressed back over the banks. If it does not match what was quoted, that is the moment we make it right.
Kerr County terrain sheds rain hard, so a well sited pond here can go from dry to full pool in one wet stretch rather than over a season. What we will not do is give you a date. Hill Country rain arrives in feast or famine, and the year matters more than the month. What we can control is the catchment: we size the watershed feeding your pond so it is collecting real runoff instead of waiting on rain that lands directly in the basin.
Published, not hidden behind a form. Prices and build times are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank.
| Pond Size | Starting Price at 6 ft depth, 4:1 bank | Build Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | from $12,300 | 2 to 3 days |
| 1/2 acre | from $19,200 | 3 to 4 days |
| 3/4 acre | from $23,300 | 4 to 5 days |
| 1 acre | from $27,000 | 5 to 6 days |
| 1 1/4 acre | from $30,400 | 6 to 7 days |
| 1 1/2 acre | from $33,800 | 7 to 8 days |
| 1 3/4 acre | from $36,800 | 8 to 9 days |
| 2 acre | from $39,500 | 9 to 10 days |
Prices are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank. In Kerr County the two variables that move a quote are rock and sealing: how much of the basin is excavation in solid limestone rather than soil, and whether the site needs clay hauled in or a bentonite treatment to hold water. Rock we can usually judge from the area and the jobs we have done nearby. Sealing sometimes only shows itself once the basin is open. Either way you get the number as soon as we honestly have it, in writing, and never buried in a final invoice.
Size it, tell us what to do with the dirt, then draw the pond right on a photo of your land. Your estimate comes back by email, along with a preview of the finished water.
No surprise line items. Here is how the number breaks down on every quote we write.
Siting and design against your watershed, staking, topsoil stripped and saved, the core trench, the dam built in compacted lifts, the spillway cut and shaped, slopes finished to mow, and topsoil dressed back over the banks. Machine transport is in the quote, and so is the walkthrough before we leave.
Two things move a Kerr County number, and we price each one the moment we can honestly price it. The first is rock: how much of the basin is excavation in competent limestone instead of soil, which is slower work and more day count. The second is sealing: whether the site has a clay seam that will hold a pool on its own, or whether it needs clay hauled and keyed in, a bentonite treatment worked into the basin, or a synthetic liner. Each becomes a line item the moment we can price it honestly, whether that is before the dig, during it, or after on a site that is genuinely questionable.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site. These were built north of here on the same limestone, and the labels name where each one actually is.
Dam graded on limestone ground, Lampasas
Dam work on a Burnet County build
Basin shaping, GatesvilleFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Most Kerr County pond sites need clearing before anything can dig. Cedar and brush have to come off the basin and the dam footprint, and on this ground that is usually the bigger job. We do both. One company clears the site, cuts the pond, shapes the dam, and grades the finish, which means one mobilization, one bill, and nobody standing around blaming the other trade for the schedule.
Kerr County averages around thirty inches of rain a year and it does not arrive politely. A shallow pond in this country turns warm, weedy, and green by August, and in a dry year it goes to mud. Our pricing starts at six feet at center because that is the honest entry point, but on the plateau we will usually tell you to go eight or more if the budget allows. Deeper water stays cooler, stays cleaner, and is still there when the creeks stop running.
The work here splits three ways. Working ranches want a stock tank that holds through a dry summer. Hunting and wildlife properties want water sited where game will use it and where it helps a management plan. And the places along the Guadalupe and Turtle Creek want something to look at from the porch. Those are three different ponds, and the siting, depth, and finish differ for each.
Anything we build in the Guadalupe drainage gets a dam and an emergency spillway sized for flashy runoff, keyed into competent material, and compacted in lifts rather than pushed into place. That is not a premium option. It is the only responsible way to hold water above a river that floods the way this one does.
A working pond is drought insurance. Kerr County goes long stretches without meaningful rain, and a place with dependable water runs stock through a dry summer while the neighbors are hauling. Depth is what buys that, which is why we push past the six foot entry point wherever the budget allows.
Water is the single strongest thing you can add to a wildlife property here. Sited well, a pond concentrates game, supports a wildlife management valuation, and turns a hunting place into one that holds animals rather than borrowing them from the neighbor. Axis and whitetail will find new water within weeks.
Plenty of Kerr County ponds get built because somebody wants to look at water from the porch. That is a real reason and we build for it. Bank shape, the line the water takes against the oaks, where the light hits it in the evening: those are design decisions, not accidents, and they cost nothing extra if they are made before the machines start.
A pond that holds water is a permanent improvement on a Hill Country tract, and on this ground it is a scarce one. Anyone can sell you acreage with a view. Reliable surface water in limestone country is harder to come by, and buyers here know the difference between a pond and a wet weather hole.
The build does not have to stop when the water shows up. These come with the same one-crew, one-call approach as the pond itself.
Bare banks in this country wash the first time it storms, so we seed and stabilize what we disturb. On thin plateau soil that means matching the seed to shallow ground rather than throwing out a generic pasture mix and hoping.
Aeration earns its keep in Hill Country heat. Moving water stays cooler, holds oxygen through August, and resists the algae bloom that turns a clear pond green by midsummer. We can rough in the conduit while the basin is open, which is far cheaper than trenching it later.
Docks, piers, and hardened access points get planned before the basin is finished so the footings sit on competent material rather than fill. On a limestone site that matters more than usual, because there is often good rock right where you want to anchor.
Stocking works once the pond is holding and the water has settled. We will point you at what actually thrives in Hill Country water rather than what sounds good, and tell you honestly how long to wait before putting fish in a brand new basin.
Absolutely the best service you could ask for. When Bobby said he would be at our property every day at 0700 and work from 0730 to 1530 he meant it. He was here every day 5 minutes early.
lewis ecker, Google review
Taylor, Preston, and the machine operator Steve were consummate professionals every step of the way. The bidding process, delivery of the machine, and frequent communication during the heavy rain were all handled well.
Derek Knapp, Google review
I have nothing but great things to say about Pierce Land Clearing. They were punctual and professional. Bobby was an artist on his machine. Great folks and great work.
Cory Cox, Google review
Six terms you will hear on the site walk, and what they actually mean for your water.
Four feet of run for every foot of drop. Gentler banks are safer and easier to mow; steeper banks get more depth from less dirt.
The dry dam height above full pool, the safety margin that keeps a big storm inside the pond.
Every acre of ground that sheds rain toward your pond. It, not the hole, decides how fast you get water.
The water level at the bottom of the spillway, the highest the pond is designed to hold day to day.
Where the dam dirt comes from. On a well designed pond it is the basin itself, so every yard dug does double duty.
One acre of water a foot deep, about 326,000 gallons. The unit that decides whether a stock pond needs a state permit.
We build ponds across the Hill Country and Central Texas.
A quarter acre pond starts at $12,300, a half acre at $19,200, and a full acre at $27,000, based on six feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank. Minimum job is $8,000. In Kerr County the two things that move that number are rock and sealing, and each is quoted the moment we can honestly price it rather than guessed at.
Sometimes on its own, sometimes only with help, and anyone who tells you for certain over the phone is guessing. What we have is experience on this exact limestone and the ponds we have already built around here. If your ground holds on its own clay you are close to chart price. If it does not, we price a clay liner, a bentonite treatment, or a synthetic liner as soon as we know, which on a questionable site can be once the basin is open.
On the plateau we usually do, and it is priced honestly rather than hidden. Excavation in competent limestone is slower and harder on equipment than digging soil, so the day count goes up. We tell you what we found, what it changes, and what it costs before we keep going.
Usually, and we do that too. Cedar and brush have to come off the basin and the dam footprint before a track hoe can work. Doing the clearing and the pond with one company means one mobilization and one schedule instead of two crews pointing at each other.
Our pricing starts at six feet at center, and on this ground we generally recommend eight or more if the budget allows. Deeper water resists evaporation through a Hill Country August, stays cooler, grows fewer weeds, and holds through a dry year. The calculator on this page shows you exactly what the extra depth costs.
Faster than most of Texas when it rains, because this terrain sheds water hard. A well sited Kerr County pond can fill in one wet stretch. But Hill Country rain is feast or famine, so we will not promise you a date. What we will do is size the watershed feeding it so the pond has a real catchment rather than hoping for direct rainfall.
A quarter acre pond runs about two to three days, and a two acre build runs nine to ten. Rock adds days, and we will tell you that when we quote rather than after. You get a day count with the number.
That is a common Kerr County call and often the whole job. We drain what is left, find where it is going, and treat it, whether that means keying in a clay blanket, working bentonite into the leak zone, or rebuilding a dam that was never keyed in properly. We will also tell you honestly if a site is not worth saving.
Send photos or a pin on the spot you have in mind and we will come back with a range, usually the same day. If the ground turns out to need sealing, you hear the number as soon as we have it rather than at the end. Free site walk across Kerr County and the surrounding Hill Country.