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#4265 07/25/07 09:24 AM
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Below is a picture of my pond and dilemma. My pond is one year old and is spring fed by 3 springs one being a main one. The pond bottom is bed rock/clay silt and it filled completely in 6 weeks and stayed full through the fall, winter and early spring. I did a soil survey and pond plan through the coop and everything went as planned until May this year. I am in upstate NY and we have had a very long dry spell starting with the driest April in history. My pond is now 4 foot low and is still dropping at a rate of 2-4 inches per week. I would have thought that a leak would have showed up over the winter when the ice was on if it was a leak. I am suspect of the tree line being so close and have seen signs of roots reaching into the pond. I did an underwater video of the tree side today and found some small roots but nothing big. I am hoping that all of you with your years of experience can help me understand what to look for and how to proceed. I put a picture of the tree side of the pond and a video of a pvc tree at work from this morning. Thanks for reading and thanks for the help.

Scott




#4266 07/25/07 10:38 AM
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Are the springs that feed the pond inside the bowl? One possibility is that the very dry weather has lowered the local water table to the point that instead of feeding water into the pond, the springs are now draining water out of it. I agree with your reasoning that there is not a simple, conventional leak; I'm assuming last Winter the ground water level was higher and that the ground water flow has reversed since then.

OTOH 2" - 4" per week is not a whole lot more that I would expect what simple evaporation might total. I know I can lose 1/2" a day here in hot, dry weather. Hopefully some of the other NY PMs will have an idea what evaporation in your area has been.

P.S. As a former Nerd Herd member and current Nerd Herd parent, you have my thanks. Herding cats is probably easier.


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#4267 07/25/07 11:03 AM
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maki,
I feel your pain, my pond is similar in size to yours, and the spring hole is I'm sure the source of my leak also. After all the spring rains it is disappointing to see water levels down so low. Good luck with your pond.

#4268 07/27/07 09:19 PM
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maki Offline OP
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Thanks Theo and Scruffy fish. As much as the dropping level is makin me pull the last 4 hairs out of my bald head, I still love to go have my first cup of coffee in the AM and feed and chat with my little buddies of the blue. Anyone else have an idea on the hedge row?

#4269 07/27/07 11:21 PM
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I've read that trees near the waters edge can consume quite a bit of water. You could try something that I did after repairing a leak. I marked the inside and outside of a 2.5 gallon bucket (empty detergent bucket) in 1/8 inch intervals starting about 2 inches from the top and did my best to make sure the lines on the outside were inline with the lines on the inside. I put a few rocks in the bucket and set it in the pond with the water level at the topmost mark. Then I filled the inside of the bucket up with water until it reached the topmost mark. After 24 hours I found that the water inside the bucket was about 1/8 of an inch lower than the outside of the bucket and the water level on the outside of the bucket had dropped about 1/4 inch. I ran the same test for a few days and pretty much saw the same results. I gathered that the water loss I was seeing after the leak repair was mostly due to evaporation because I have no aquatic growth or trees anywhere near the pond. Now I could be wrong but I would think this method may help you determine if your loss is mostly evaporation. After having a leak I'm still very paranoid and have several measuring sticks in my pond which I check 2 times a day and track in a spreadsheet. I see on average about 1/16 - 1/8 inch loss overnight and 1/4 - 5/16 inch loss in 24 hours.

#4270 07/28/07 06:10 AM
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That is a great video. Those YP were active and inquisitive. Did you notice the one striking? I don't think the roots I saw are the problem. The trees in your pic seem to be a good distance from the water and are not very big (more like bushes).

I would suggest you test the ER like Cheezy says (neat method). Don't discount the fact that this is the first full summer the pond has endured and it may still be settling and wicking water. If you are losing more than just temporary wicking and evaporation then my guess is , as Theo noted spring reversal.
















#4271 08/06/07 06:09 AM
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Thanks guys, It is hard to watch a pond that you have planned and waited for not behaving. On the bright side I am seeing some great growth rate on the LM and YP. The interesting thing is although the fish all came from the same hatchery there are fish that have seen one inch growth and some that have seen three and all fish are showing great girth growth. I started the pond with 2 Lbs of FHM and they hatched two yoy before the other fish were introduced. I am also supplimenting with a high protein floating pellet that makes it alot of fun for the kids at feeding time. Thanks again for the replies!
Scott


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