I am trying to determine the size of pond I can put on this land. I have attached potential areas and topo map. Area receives an avg of 48 inches a year. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. I also have thought of drilling a well that could pump about 50 GPM to keep it full? Any help
My part of SE NE receives 29" annually, and the NRCS rough formula is 33 acre watershed for 1 acre pond average depth wholly dependent on precipitation. I think you could manage a 1.5-1.75 acre pond easily based on the precipitation numbers and supplemental irrigation - maybe push it to 2 acres. Depending on your goals it may make sense to create 3 half acre ponds, mini ponds are easier to manage and you can establish different fisheries. You could even create a few forage cells as well which are a big help.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Looks like annual rainfall = evaporation for your area. I would contact a builder or consultant in your area because a pond can be a fairly large investment. The general rule would be 10:1 on watershed
1.8 acre pond with CNBG, RES, HSB, and LMB Trophy Hunter feeder.
I spend $450/mo pumping 24/7 40 GPM 5 HP pump at 170ish feet so I agree it sounds on the light side to me. Entirely depends on the depth of your static water level and size of pump needed.
I recommend contacting NRCS ask them for recommendations on watershed size for 5 ac pond. Talk with local pond owners, they'll provide critical information also regarding watershed size needed for pond size.
Again, multiple ponds are an option I'd encourage you to consider - IMO from a fishery standpoint there's not appreciable difference between fishery potential in a 2 ac pond vs 5 ac - and a 2 ac pond is far cheaper/easier to manage. Multiple ponds open up lots of possibilities.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
5 acre is a nice size pond. Based on your topo map, and my own pond cost, figure $15-20K per acre for construction. I started out at 6 acres, then he told me how many yards of dirt he would be removing. I knew what the $/yard was, so I had to rethink my pond size.
1.8 acre pond with CNBG, RES, HSB, and LMB Trophy Hunter feeder.