Pond building.  The 2003 and lasagne garden pages show the pond after if was dug and before shaping.  The general steps in pond construction are shown below. I recommend reading a book or two on garden ponds if you want the pond to be ornamental. We used rocks around our pond because they had been given to us, but you can have a nice pond with only soil and plants on the bank.  The rocks do give frogs a place to hide. If you plan to use the pond for irrigation, don't make it too pretty or you won't want to take water out of it.  Still a pond has uses other than irrigation and aesthetics.  It is a breeding place for frogs, salamanders, and dragonflies and provides drinking water for land animals.  Water plants which tend to over grow, like water hyacinths and elodea, need to be harvested and can be used in sheet mulching (see the lasagna garden page). You can also grow edible fish and edible plants such as lotus and cattails.  Or you could grow koi and water plants to sell.

The first step in pond construction is digging the hole and shaping the sides.  A ledge on the inside is very useful for setting potted plants especially if you want access to them without getting in the water. The banks need to be solid enough to support your weight.  Also the ledges should be wider than you think to allow for the curvature and thickness of two layers of carpet.	A permaculture principle is to increase edge to increase diversity.  Curves or an irregular outline in the pond increases the length of the edge.  They also make the pond more attractive.  It was a lot of extra work putting in the curves, but in the end it was well worth it.
Once the pond is shaped and the banks leveled, the first layer of carpet is put down.  The nap goes up.  The carpet did not lay smoothly over our curves and this proved to be a challenge.  We eventually got it smooth enough by cutting slots in the carpet where there were folds.  The carpet was held in place with landscape staples and long nail spikes.	The black poly came in a 40 ft roll and was the thickest we could get at the building supply store.  It was not expensive.  It was slick though.  Folds and wrinkles don't matter as long as it is water tight.
The second layer of carpet is put nap-side down.  The carpet floats so must be anchored with rocks.  We puzzled about how the carpet should be overlapped and worried a lot about how the overlaps on the edges would look.  We fussed more than we needed to.  A little moss, some rocks and plants go a long way in hiding seams.	The pond was shaped and lined in 4 days.  Laying the rock took much longer.  The rocks had to go in so that they were stable enough to be walked on.  There were also some aesthetics to consider.  The ledge ended up a little higher than planned so it is above the water line.  The frogs and our cat, Josie, don't mind though.  See below.
This shows the edges of the overlapping carpet.  The rock ledge is shown in more detail.  The vertical rocks were placed on the horizontal rocks to give more stability.  The carpet is floating a little and that is why it looks like it extends out so far from the rocks.  The rock ledge is stable enough to walk on, and the carpet eventually sank.	A stone patio was made under the shade of the maple tree near one corner of the pond.  The ground was leveled as well as we could (as well as Hugh's patience would permit) with clay and then gravel fines were spread.  Flat rocks were positioned and the not-so flat rocks had extra fines put under the edges to make them stable. This took lots of rest breaks and moral support from the cats.  The concrete block was a seat while working.
A view of the pond after all of the rocks were in place and before it was planted (April).  We filled the pond by draining the rain barrels by the house in to it.  We had plenty of rain that spring. A bulge in the carpet and the overlap are visible.	A view of the pond in August after the plants have grown.  The lotus is huge and gave us a tremendous amount of entertainment looking at and photographing the flowers.  Josie is on the rock ledge hunting for frogs.  A couple of well-placed plants hide the carpet bulge and overlap. The patio was joined smoothly with the pond rocks (foreground).
The patio is a great place to sit and watch dragon flies, frogs, hummingbirds, etc.  Somehow it gets hard to get the weeding done.  Two small bog gardens were put in at the end of the pond.  The one on the right is above the water line but on the carpet extending up from the pond.  The carpet wicks enough moisture to keep the plants growing. The garden on the left is partially below the water line when the pond is full.	One can get lost in looking at reflections in the water on a lazy summer day.