Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site How to identify a "good" pond

This may sound like a strange question but is there any way to determine if a pond is a good, full pond year after year?

The reason I ask is this, while a lot of the middle of the country is going through a bad drought, this year the mid-atlantic is getting plenty and I want to make sure if I look at a property, that the pond isnt just full because of above average rainfall.

I would imagine maybe google maps?

ANy other recommendations?

Mike,

That is an excellent question. As you state in your post, much of the US in drought. Yet, at least in my opinion, this is one of the wettest summers I've seen in the nearly 40 years I've been in this area. My ponds are above full pool, and have not been below full pool since last autumn. I've hardly watered my garden this season. In the eight years we've owned this property, I've not seen this before. Since about 1975, I've seen three summers like this.

Most years, my main pond has been down 6 to 18 inches through most of July, August, and into September. During the worst of those years, many other ponds in the area have lost as much as 2/3s of their water, and some dried up completely -- while others remained at or near full pool.

Certainly many of those ponds that stay at or above full pool in the driest part of the summer are fed by significant year-around springs, usually located above the ponds. In this part of WV, we have a lot of those. I don't have any on my property, but many close-by neighbors have areas that produce water year around.

Knowing what you are shopping for, I think I'd try to find properties with springs that produce year around. Generally, the USGS maps will show the creeks emanating from those springs as blue lines on the maps. That causes some problems, because most of those are considered navigable waters, and they come with a whole set of pond building and access rules beyond normal runoff and wet weather creeks. However, if you can't find property with existing ponds like this, look at the topo maps to see if it looks like the nearby mountainsides have a lot of headwater sources -- where a blue line just starts in the middle of nowhere.

I don't think any Ouija board or crystal ball will tell us what our weather patterns are going to be over the next few decades. But, the mountains of northern West Virginia, western Maryland, and much of western and southern Pennsylvania rip the water out of clouds pushing down from the Great Lakes. That is where most of our weather comes from. Even in drought years, we usually have a reasonable amount of rain and snow, even if it is considered "below average."


If you find something of interest, figure out how to get yourself invited to a local Rotary, Ruritan, Lions, etc., community service organization's meeting. Maybe even the VFW or Legion. They are always looking for speakers -- maybe you could talk a little bit about what life has been like in the last couple of years for you and your family. Talk to the old timers. They won't steer you wrong. You'll also make immediate friends.

Regards,
Ken

I would use google earth and the "historical image" function to see how much water levels fluctuate.

Thanks Ken and Shorty. I have learned already that the old timers remember little things that tell you a whole lot if you will listen. Somehow they remember the years and all the water levels.

Any time that you depend on rainfall for all of your water you are at the mercy of the gods LOL.

Springs, streams, wells etc all play an important part in keeping you at full pool year round if that is your desire.

But, there are disadvantages to springs and streams.
1) If the spring is coming into the pond below the full pool level, the water can go both ways, depending on the amount of pressure under ground in the spring. Springs don't have one way valves on them.

2) If you rely on a stream to bring water to your pond, even seasonally, whatever fish are in the stream will end up in your pond. That could be good or bad depending on your management goals.

There are ups and downs to everything. Esshup, you are right on the money.

I would never advise using a spring to feed your pond from the bottom. Ideally, you would have the spring run into your pond, not run up from underneath it.

As far as other critters getting into your drink, it could happen. I have heard some stories on here about critters getting into ponds by teleportation apparently LOL. I have no idea how they get in sometimes. Hopefully your stream is just filled with darters, chubs, crawdads and bugs that would just supply food to the chain.

This is all part of the game of pondmeistering.

You try to do your best with what you've got. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but at the end of the day you can still drown a worm...so how bad is it really? LOL.