PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
San Marcos sits on the Balcones fault, where the springs come out of the Edwards. That geology is beautiful and it is also the reason a pond here needs a test pit rather than a phone quote.
It depends entirely on which side of the fault you are on. This is the most geologically split city we build ponds in, and a few hundred yards genuinely changes the answer.
West of the fault you are over the Edwards, and the Edwards is karst: fractured, cavernous rock that carries water sideways and downward rather than holding it. It is why the springs exist and it is exactly the wrong thing under a pond basin.
If your property is on that side, the conversation is honest from the start. Sometimes there is enough clay in the soil profile to win and cap a basin with. Sometimes a liner is the only thing that will work. Either way you hear it before you have spent money, not after.
Downstream and east of town, out toward Martindale, Staples and Luling, you come off the rock and onto blackland and river terrace soils. That ground compacts into its own seal as the basin is cut, and a pond there is a straightforward dig at chart prices.
Plenty of San Marcos properties have both underneath them. Where the pond goes can matter far more than how big it is, and a good part of the site walk is finding the place on your land where the geology is working for you.
Most people have never had a pond built and do not know what the week looks like. Here is the whole thing, from the first call to the day it starts holding water.
Text or call with pictures of the spot and what you have in mind. Because the price list is published, we can give you an honest range on the first call, then put a boot on the ground to firm it up.
We walk the ground with you, find where water already collects, and dig a test pit. In San Marcos that pit is not a formality. It is the difference between a pond and an expensive hole in the Edwards.
You get one page with real numbers on it. Excavation, dam construction, spillway, transport, and any flagged contingency, all in plain terms. No allowances that balloon later, no asterisks doing heavy lifting.
Mobilization is usually measured in weeks, not months. The dozer and excavator arrive on a lowboy, we stage at the site, and from that morning the build runs continuously until the pond is done.
The dig itself runs two to five days on most builds. Topsoil is saved for the banks, the core trench goes in first, and the dam is built the slow, right way, in compacted layers rather than one loose push. You will see the pond take shape daily.
We do not leave until you have walked the finished pond with us. The dam, the spillway, the bank grades, the topsoil dressing, all of it inspected against what was promised, and corrected on the spot if it falls short.
Then you wait on weather. Clay has to be worked dry to compact properly, so we book around the forecast rather than through it. It is the frustrating part and it is what decides whether the dam holds.
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 six feet of depth at centre with a 4:1 bank. East and south of San Marcos, toward Martindale and Luling, a sealing line item is rarely needed. West of the fault, over the Edwards, the test pit decides whether the basin needs a clay cap or a liner. We price that up front rather than discovering it with a machine already on the clock.
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.
We would rather explain the number before you sign than after. This is the whole anatomy of a pond quote.
The number includes the pond, whole and finished: design against the watershed, staking, topsoil stripped and banked, core trench, compacted-lift dam, cut spillway, finish-graded slopes, and dressed banks. Getting the iron to your gate and the closing walkthrough are in there too.
What moves the number on a San Marcos job: whether the test pit finds workable clay or Edwards rock, whether the basin needs capping or lining, whether the site sits over recharge features, how far a lowboy can get in, and whether cedar has to come out first.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site.
A new pond taking on water
Lampasas expansion work
Pond dirt work, BeltonFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Already have a pond that will not hold water? Start with why a pond will not hold water, see what a rehab involves and what one cost, and if the soil is the problem the bentonite calculator gives you the load count before anyone comes out.
San Marcos properties tend to be either river land or ridge land, and they want different ponds. On the flats near the river the water table is close and the soil is workable. Up on the ridge you are dealing with thin soil over Edwards rock and a much harder question. Both are buildable, they just need different honesty about what they will cost.
Cedar takes anything nobody mows in this county, and the low ground where a pond wants to go is always the part nobody mows. Because clearing land is our main trade, the juniper comes out and the basin gets cut on one mobilisation with one crew and one bill rather than two contractors.
The Edwards recharge zone runs through this county, and it is not something to be casual about. A pond dug into a recharge feature is not a pond, it is a drain. Part of what we are looking for in the test pit is whether your site is somewhere a basin will simply lose water into the rock, and if it is, we tell you rather than build it.
Six feet at centre is where the chart starts and six feet holds. In a dry San Marcos summer six feet also gets warm, low and green. Eight or more keeps a cold layer at the bottom and comes through a hard year still worth looking at. On the rock side depth is limited by what the Edwards allows, which is another thing the pit answers.
A new pond looks raw. Bare banks, cloudy water and a season before it settles. Get grass established before the first big rain and it clears faster and stops feeding silt back into itself.
If you want water you can see into, it starts with the build rather than a chemical. Depth, a shelf, banks that do not slump and aeration do most of the work. Retrofitting clarity into a shallow warm pond is a losing battle.
Every pond starts filling in the day it is finished. Grass cover on the watershed, stock fenced off the approach and a small forebay to catch sediment will buy you decades.
You learn what a pond is worth in the third hot August. Six feet gets low, warm and green. Nine feet keeps a cold layer at the bottom and comes through it. Everyone we know who went deeper is glad they did.
When the dirt work is done you can keep the same crew on the finish work. These four add-ons turn a new basin into a finished pond.
Bare banks wash, and thin soil over rock washes fastest. We seed and mat the disturbed ground with a mix suited to Central Texas so the first storm does not undo the shaping.
Moving water stays cleaner. An aerator or fountain keeps oxygen through the column and holds algae back through a hot San Marcos summer.
A dock or a hardened bank turns a pond into somewhere you use. We shape and compact for one while the machines are on site, which is far cheaper than bringing them back.
Fish want structure and depth before stocking. We leave brush piles, a drop off and a shelf while the basin is open, so the pond is built to hold fish before you put any in.
Taylor was very professional from start to finish. Great to deal with and on time. Equipment was top notch. We had a few challenges to overcome and he tackled them head on instead of backing away. Only company I will call for future land clearing needs.
Patrick Dean, Google review
Contracted Pierce to clear 5 acres of land. They did quick, quality, and outstanding work removing all the requested trees and preserving the oaks. Definitely recommend!
Trevor Seret, Google review
Pierce Land Clearing surpassed our expectations. The work was accurate and mindful of the trees that we wanted to keep. Bobby was very professional, polite, and skillful. Would 100 percent recommend.
olivia gutierrez, Google review
Learn these six and you can grade any pond quote you are handed, including ours.
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.
Saving the living top layer before the dig and dressing it back over the banks after, so grass takes the first season.
Clay you can roll into a ribbon in your hand. The soil that seals a pond, and the first thing we look for on the walk.
Texan for a working pond built to water cattle. Usually smaller, always practical, and built with the same dam discipline.
The key cut through the dam footprint, backfilled with compacted clay, that stops water tracking under the dam. Over the Edwards, finding enough clay on the property to build one is often the deciding question.
We build ponds either side of the fault across Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe County. A few of the places we work close to San Marcos:
Pricing starts at $12,300 for a quarter acre at six feet with a 4:1 bank and runs to $39,500 for two acres, with an $8,000 minimum. East and south of town those numbers usually stand. Over the Edwards, sealing or a liner is a real added cost and you will see it itemised before you commit.
It depends which side of the Balcones fault you are on, and that is not a detail. East and south of town, on blackland and river terrace, usually yes. West, over the Edwards limestone, often only with a clay cap or a liner. The test pit answers it honestly and we dig it before quoting.
Sometimes, and sometimes the right answer is no. Recharge features carry water down into the aquifer, which is the opposite of what a pond does. If your site sits on one we will say so rather than take your money. Where a build does work, it usually needs a properly capped or lined basin.
We stop and tell you, then price the options: cap with clay won elsewhere on the property, move the pond to better ground, or line it. We will not dig a hole that cannot hold water and then invoice you for it.
Usually. Cedar fills anything unmowed in Hays County and pond sites are always the unmowed part. Clearing is our main trade, so it happens on the same trip as the dig and on the same bill.
On your own rural land, generally no, and agricultural water storage is exempt from most regulation in Texas. It changes if the pond dams a defined watercourse, sits in a floodplain, or falls inside the San Marcos city limit. Recharge zone rules can also apply. We will tell you what is relevant before anything starts.
Around 35 inches a year, mostly spring and autumn. On the eastern side a chart sized pond usually fills over one or two wet seasons. On the rocky side the catchment sheds fast, which fills a pond quickly and also means the spillway has to be sized for it.
Yes, and around San Marcos it is often the smarter job. Rebuilding the dam with a proper key trench and cutting a spillway sized for the catchment usually costs less than starting again.
Tell us roughly how big you want the water and where you are thinking of putting it. We will walk the ground, dig a test pit, and give you a written number that reflects what is actually under your grass.
