Hello all, I plan on building an approx. 1 acre pond with at least 3 acres for watershed. I plan on raising LMB and forage fish. I had planned on going with 6-8 feet for depth, but I am concerned about keeping water during the dry summer months. Is 6-8 deep enough? I am located in the NE Houston, TX area...should I be concerned?

Houston gets a fair amount of rain, but you can't always count on it.

Our pond is 18-20' deep (max) when full, but right now it is about 12-14' feet max. That difference is 6', which is the bottom figure of what you're proposing.

I know it's not cheap, but I would build a smaller pond and have it deeper if cost is an issue. What good is a larger pond that goes dry in the hot Texas summer? There are ways other than watershed to keep a pond from getting too low, but those are costly as well.

Just my $.02. Please keep us updated. Good luck!

Azngunner,welcome to PB. I agree 100%.If you only go 6-8 ft,stock it,go 3-4 yrs and we hit drought,the pond goes dry and you lose everything.Texas weather aint worth gambling on,at least not with your fish.FWIW,thats my .02 cents worth.
OTOH,my .02 is usually worth about .02

AznGunner:
You want your pond at least 10'. You are going to get water loss from evaporation, wind and some ground seepage. My concern is that 3 acres is not really a large water shed. I would concentrate more on the drainage issue.
Otto