Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Are spring-fed ponds different??

I'm considering purchasing 20 acres of land that contains a 0.8 acre pond. This pond is spring-fed and I'm not seeing anything around it that looks like a dam. I've heard that this pond is about 15 feet deep though. Does anyone know about these spring-fed ponds? Here's what I'm wondering.
1. Does a spring fed pond require a dam?

2. How easy/difficult is it to enlarge a spring fed pond? I'd like to enlarge this pond to about 2 acres. Any special considerations?

3. The idea of “spring fed” is intriguing but does “spring fed” equate to “will never go dry”? I’m concerned that someday I’d end up with a dry hole in the ground that would never fill again.
Thanks!
Guy

If it's flat why would it need a dam? Your spring may not be able to support a larger pond. Springs can go dry, so you are taking a bit of a risk. Wouldn't stop me from buying it.

Welcome to the forum, Guy. You have come to the right place to get the information you are looking for. The experts will chime in soon and give their opinion. I can offer a bit of generic advice until they arrive.

First, get on the Pond Boss web site and order Mike Otto's book, Just Add Water. Anyone who is building or modifying a pond should read this book before acting.

Second, with regard to the spring questions, the answer is "It depends". A spring is nothing more than ground water leaking out of the ground. If there is drought and ground water is depleted to a point that it is no longer at the level that it was leaking out, then the spring will go dry and it would no longer feed into the pond. My pond is mostly fed by runoff but also has a spring that varies considerably with regard to the amount of water flowing based on season and amount of rainfall.

Finally, springs can be a double edged sword. Water can flow both ways. Plenty of ponds have been built with a spring outlet near the bottom of the pond, only to have the water run out of the pond back into the the spring. Whether it runs out or not depends on how much pressure is forcing water out through the spring. If that pressure is reduced due to drought or seasonal changes, then the water can run out of the pond and into the ground and the pond level will go down.

Again, welcome to the forum!

Welcome to PBF Guy!

Obviously, there is no guarantee a spring will not go dry sometime in the future. One thing you can do though is to look up the property on Google Earth and review the history of past satelite photos. This might at least give info on the reliability of the spring and whether the pond has dried up in the past.

I will offer this as food for thought....Assuming the pond is not continuously overflowing now, the pond may have reached a balance between water loss, surface area and spring capacity already. Making the pond bigger might result in a bigger hole but still the same surface area of water.

WOW! Thanks to everyone for their replies! Good information and I sure appreciate the interest!
Just a little history (maybe too much, ha), but I just sold a small place that had a 1/4 acre pond on it. My intent was to enlarge that little thing to 2 acres. I had a couple of "pond guys" and the TX Conservation and USDA folks both tell me that I just didn't have enough run-off or water shed to support a 2 acre pond. This was a huge eye opener and was the reason I sold the place. Now, I'm in the market again, but this time I am going to do LOTS of homework; starting here! Again, thanks for all the input! I'm going to get Mike's book and will keep an eye on this thread. Sure is nice to know there are so many folks out there with the same interests when it comes to ponds!!
Regards to all,
Guy

Welcome to the forum Guy. Sounds like an interesting start to a thread. If you can get some picture it would sure help. Maybe a damn can be built. Is there any water shed that could help along with the spring? My dad pond is built over a spring on a hill so it has water shed also. It has never went dry maybe down a few feet but don't they all vary somewhat?