How do you maintain a Pond water level

[clovergamecock]

I have been looking at a lot of threads on ponds and I am stumped as to how most get replenished. For you all that have built ponds did you have a natural spring or are you relying on rain?? I have 13 acres 8 of which is open pasture. I have always wanted a pond but the $8k to 10k for someone to build it is way out of budget. I have an L2800 and am looking for a back hoe attachment so I was thinking about doing one myself but I don't want to end up with nothing more than a dry hole, misquito and snake farm. I live in South Carolina and we went through a pretty bad drouht about 3 years ago and even Lake Wylie went down significantly.

So bottom line, how can a pond be sustained??

Thanks
Wade

 

[Gary Fowler]

I built a fairly large 2 acre pond once using a 120 HP 9000 Ford tractor and a 5 yard dirt pan. I was about 6 foot deep overall with a couple of spots a bit deeper. It was diked all the way around and depended on well water to keep the level up. We raised catfish in it for personal use (fishing and food). We put down a 2" well that would pump 55 gal. per minute and we used that to refresh the water. We usually ran it about once a week to keep the water level topped off.
All the ponds on the farm now are strictly rain run off replenishment. They do have springs that start to run in late fall and continue till early summer but then they quit flowing as the rains subside. So far even in worst drought, we have kept enough water in them to not have a fish kill.
If you pick a spot where lots of run off water will be captured and dig it deep enough you shouldn't have any issues with water. We have one pond 160' x160'x12' deep on the deep end tapering to 0 on upper end that we hired a contractor to build. Cost was around $6000. All of our 4 pond run overflow continuously from around Oct. thru May.

 

[Redneck in training]

Also consider the type of dirt you will be digging the pond in. Look at ponds in vicinity if they hold water and talk the owners what were the issues whe building it. If you use wheeled tractor it will in general compact the soil. If you use bulldozer it is a good idea to compact the pond with sheep foot roller. In fact it is always good idea to compact the pond regardless of equipment used to dig it. According to Google search you need about 3-5 ac of watershed per 1 ac of rain water filled pond in SC. Managing Farm Ponds for Fishing : Extension : Clemson University : South Carolina

 

[EddieWalker]

Before digging or building a pond you have to figure out how much run off you have to fill it, and keep it full. There are sites that you can search to figure this, but the basics are how many acres of land will receive rain that will flow into your pond? How much rain do you get? How much of that water will flow along the surface? there is a HUGE difference in the amount of run off you get from pasture compared to woods. Once you know how much water you get from the rain, you can determine how big a pond you should have. While there is nothing stopping you from going bigger, the is only so much water that will go into the pond.

I have two ponds. One is 3/4 of an acre and it receives water run off from about 20 acres of land. On a heavy rain, I get well over six inches of water into the pond for every inch that it rains. My other pond if 4 acres. It receives water from about 40 acres of land, but a big chunk of it is heavily wooded, which reduces my results in the pond. I get about 2 inches of water in the pond for every inch of rain I receive. If it's been raining for awhile and the ground is really saturate, that has been known to double. If the ground is dry, then I don't get any run off on smaller rains and you can't even see the increase in the pond level.

Just about every time it rains, I go for a walk once it stops to see where the water if flowing. I build my roads to catch and funnel the water to my big pond, and I add ditches to increase the amount I can get there. I have one more area on my land that I'm losing water that will require three culverts and two long shallow dams to get the water to go to where it will flow into my pond. This will add everything that my small pond is getting when it overflows, plus another ten acres of land that I'm losing out on right now. Once I do this, I'm done and will have to live with what Mother Nature gives me. Fortunately, on a normal year of rainfall, about 40 inches, that is plenty. In fact, I'm fine as I am, but what I'm worried about is those dryer years and extra hot summers.

Eddie

 

[tractorshopper]

My house is down hill of quite a few acres and my drainage ditch always ran heavily in a good rain. It actually runs along the front of everyone's property in the neighborhood, then was ditched down to the woods on my property line perpendicular to the road ditches, so I got all of it anyway. One day while mowing the lawn near the ditch area in my bottom corner (which was always changing shapes due to overrun), I decided it would be cool to dig a pond with my tractor. I read a bunch of stuff and went to it. It is about 70-80' in diammeter and about 8.5' deep for a small area at the deepest. It filled completely to my 2 overflow culverts in the first 2 days heavy rain we had. The lowest it has been is about 3' down at any one time over the last year. My pet ducks didn't seem to mind a bit. They control the mosquitos for me. A good afternoon of thunderstorms filled it back up. It has never run over the spillway yet, but has risen to the top of the two 8" culvert pipes a couple times in the heaviest of rains.

 

[clovergamecock]

Thanks all this is very helpful. My soild is clay here in South Carolina. The pond will be located at the front of my propert which is near a 2 lane highway. We get a lot of run off since the highway is higher than my land and we are lower that the neighbors properties so all of that runoff comes down the same culvert as the highway. When I bought the preoperty that area was grown up with trees and all kinds of vegitation. Now I need to research all the suggested topics as well as learn what and how to make dams and culverts for water level maintenance.

Wade

 

[LD1]

How big do you plan on going.

For quote of 8-10k tells me you are in the 3/4-1 acre ballpark, based on prices in my area. That isn't something I would want to attempt with a l2800 and BH.

Mine is a small 1/3 acre, took 3 days with two excavators and a dozer. It is kept full by the 15 acres of runoff.

 

[clovergamecock]

LD1, The size that you are talking about is pretty much what I am wanting. Anything larger would not look right in the area that I want it. I also wanted a little island in the middle and build a bridge to it. This is much more for looks and fishing eventually as well as attracting wild life. I thought 8-10k was way too much but have no idea on what a good or reasonable price would be.

Thanks
Wade

 

[oosik]

My lake came with the property. It does fluctuate between 12" on wet years and 24" during dry years. It is fed by many large springs and outflows into another lake until mid summer. I can, more or less, maintain a constant lake level if I want to adjust the outlet structure. Its just a lot easier to leave things alone and let it fluctuate. The lake is a small version of what most lakes in this area are like. Very deep and with vertical rock cliffs at the shore line. Two feet out from the cliffs the water is 45' deep and in the center its 80' deep.View attachment 351060

This is the little lake looking out over the front porch. Taken about two weeks ago when we had our first snow. The open water is five acres.

 

[LD1]

I paid 3500 for my 1/3 acre. It involved moving more dirt than normal, cause the pond was in a low area and fed partly by a culvert coming under the road. So digging down a little and building a dam/dike was out. I got quotes ranging from 3.5k up to 7k.

Don't be afraid to shop around some more. But even a small 1/3 acre will take 3-4 weeks to complete working every day from sunup til sundown with your machine. And then if it rains in the middle, you have a big mess.

Not trying to discourage you. But a pond requires moving way more dirt than people realize. If you are wanting to do this yourself, I would figure on renting an excavator for a week at minimum. And not a mini either. Something in the 13 ton range and larger.

 

[Redneck in training]

LD1, The size that you are talking about is pretty much what I am wanting. Anything larger would not look right in the area that I want it. I also wanted a little island in the middle and build a bridge to it. This is much more for looks and fishing eventually as well as attracting wild life. I thought 8-10k was way too much but have no idea on what a good or reasonable price would be.

Thanks
Wade

You have to maintain certain slope of the banks and depth of the pond. It the slope is not steep or the pond is not deep enough you will have cattails growing there. Cattails attract muskrat that will burrow in the dam and cause lot of damage. Therefore I would advise against island in small pond. You might be better off to build a deck connected to the shore by a bridge. My wife has a client that has floating "bedroom" where they sleep during warm weather. When you build dam compact every layer driving on it repeatedly in example with full bucket. Once the pond is full of water and has some defect it is very expensive to fix. You can ask me how I know.

 

[EddieWalker]

Something to consider when looking for bids for dirt work, it's all about where you are putting the dirt. The farther you move the dirt, the more it costs. Digging is easy. It's cheap and it's easy. Getting rid of the dirt is what you are paying for. Comparing what others paid for the size of the pond is meaningless. You have to understand local rates, laws or codes that may or may not apply, and how far the dirt is moved and what is done with it.

Eddie

 

[Josh Shoemaker]

I have a pond that is 3/4 to 1 acre on my property. It was there when I purchased the land. I believe that it may be spring fed but I think it also relies on water runoff to help with the water level. It has around 20 to 25 acres of mostly open pasture that runs off to it. But the water fluctuates around 4 to 6 feet during the year. But it has not completely dried up so that makes me think that it must have a small spring on it. I have been thinking about drilling a well to maintain the water level. I thought about putting a windmill up over the well so I wouldn't have to use any power. But after researching windmills and wells the well can only so deep. And me just guessing I think the water would be way below that and the fact that I would be at the mercy of the wind blowing to get water. So this goes back to have an electric pump to get the water. I am wondering if anybody here has a well that maintains water level in a pond and what kind of consumption cost would be envolved in running a pump to maintain water levels. I know that is a broad question due to all the variables that are at work, like evaporation rates, temperatures, pond leakage, size, etc. But just an average on a what acre pond would be all I'm looking for.

 

[Redneck in training]

I have a pond that is 3/4 to 1 acre on my property. It was there when I purchased the land. I believe that it may be spring fed but I think it also relies on water runoff to help with the water level. It has around 20 to 25 acres of mostly open pasture that runs off to it. But the water fluctuates around 4 to 6 feet during the year. But it has not completely dried up so that makes me think that it must have a small spring on it. I have been thinking about drilling a well to maintain the water level. I thought about putting a windmill up over the well so I wouldn't have to use any power. But after researching windmills and wells the well can only so deep. And me just guessing I think the water would be way below that and the fact that I would be at the mercy of the wind blowing to get water. So this goes back to have an electric pump to get the water. I am wondering if anybody here has a well that maintains water level in a pond and what kind of consumption cost would be envolved in running a pump to maintain water levels. I know that is a broad question due to all the variables that are at work, like evaporation rates, temperatures, pond leakage, size, etc. But just an average on a what acre pond would be all I'm looking for.

If your pond fluctuates 4 to 6 feet it has a leak somewhere. The evaporation rates are rather in inches/week or less.

 

[Josh Shoemaker]

If your pond fluctuates 4 to 6 feet it has a leak somewhere. The evaporation rates are rather in inches/week or less.

It dosen't have a leak. That is how much it fluctates when we don't get any rain. I have Red Clay for a pond.

 

[EddieWalker]

Both my ponds drop several inches a week during the summer from evaporation. Maybe a foot a month if I don't get any rain.

If your pond is dropping 6 feet, then the spring could be your leak. For water to come into a pond from a spring, it can also go out of the pond through the spring. All a spring is, is a water table near the surface of the land that is leaking out of the ground. The best springs are from the side of a hill or mountain, but some just come out into a hole dug into the ground just like a shallow well. As the water table drops, so does the water level in the pond.

Eddie

 

[sld]

On a hot windy day you can lose 1" per day to evaporation.

 

[Redneck in training]

Perhaps the depth of the pond might be also a factor. Based on my observation of neighbor's pond it would lose about 2-3" max a week during the drought we had this summer.