I think I know the answer to this question...but Can I pump water from a creek to fill my renovated pond?

We added on to a 1.3 acre pond to make to 4.5 acres. We have a creek that runs along side the pond, would it be ok to pump this water in the pond?

We have two small springs running into the pond, but they just keep the water level the same.

I do. I have a small drainage creek that I have two sump pumps set up in a sump pit. They turn on and off when the water level is high enough. It maintains my water level for me. I don't have any minnows in the drain I do not already have in the pond.

Cheers Don.

Others will have to comment on the actual creek water aspect, but I might get a jar of creek water tested before I pumped in that much new water.

I would also add something like a Pentair filter bag to the discharge. It'll help keep plants and undesirable fish out of your pond. 300 to 800 Microns would be my choice.

I agree with FIH. If the creek water has high nutrient loading, then expect a huge algae bloom and/or FA in the pond. Also, if there are fish in the creek that you don't want in your pond, then the filter bags are a must.

I don't like the idea but if I had a creek close I would certainly do it. Rain is getting really hard to come by in my area. I would worry about small microscopic plant spores. Duckweed comes to mind.

Every creek and pond are different. But, just this week I've seen almost miraculous results from bringing stream water into a pond.

I've been working with a horse farm for about four years. When I started, they had one pond that was about an acre. The pond was so thick with FA and weeds, you could just about walk across it in the summer, even though it is about 12 feet deep in many places. One side is a mountain ridge that is 2000-3000 feet high, that had been washing in tons of leaves every season.

Yet, the main problem was runoff from horse manure and urine.

The first thing I had them do was to grade and divert as much water as possible from running into the pond from the barns and paddocks.

Next, we built about a 75 foot dam, with standpipe, about 25 feet from shore, across the end of the main pond where most of the water entered the pond. The runoff water still has a lot of nutrients coming it -- but, more on that below.

We planted this new little settlement pond (about 25' x 75') with lots of very pretty nutrient loving flowering plants (mostly in big pots), based on Bill Cody's suggestions.

We still had problems in the main pond, so we made some additional major changes. A creek runs several hundred feet away, above the pond level, and parallel to the pond. It is on the opposite side of the barns and paddocks. A trench was dug upcreek from the barns and paddocks. An 8" schedule 40 PVC "pipeline" was run from the creek to the new settlement pond. We've got about a 5-6 foot head, and a mostly year around inflow. A "catch basin", with its top situated just above the creek bed, and surrounded by large rocks, keeps most debris from coming in or clogging the; inflow pipe.

The creek is filled with many different kinds of minnows, creek chubs, etc., which flush into the settlement pond. Although i haven't seen any, I assume that hellgrammites, crayfish and other tasty and nutritious critters are washing in too. It has become an incredible nursery for the wild fish. From there, these critters get flushed into the main pond where the bass have grown huge. So have the bluegill and catfish. The owners also feed pellets each evening.

We added one grass carp and two koi to the settlement pond. The main pond got 10 grass carp and already had some big koi.

The creek water is constantly flushing these two ponds, and a third diversion/growout pond I didn't describe. We also added several other settlement ponds that trap water flowing down a steep mountain ridge. When it rains, this water enters the main pond via a deep ravine that we've minimally dammed with high piles of rip-rap to trap debris before entering the pond. The traps get cleaned out each springtime with an excavator or backhoe they have on the farm.

Anyway, the creek water has done wonders for adding forage and keeping the ponds flushed. The creek water quality is pretty high, as the headwaters are from some large natural springs a few miles up the mountain. The farm is probably at about a 700-800 foot elevation, surrounded by about 2000-3000 foot ridges.

This season, the ponds are nearly crystal clear, for the first time in decades. There is virtually no FA, and a minimal amount of weeds. The main pond also has a lot of structure such as old broken culverts and piles of broken concrete.

The owners are thrilled. So, with caution, creek water can be pretty good.