Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Finally I can join the ranks of pond owners!!

Unfortunately, you won't know for sure how big of a well you will need until the pond is dug and you see how fast the water level fluctuates. My personal pond is dug in sand also, with a high water table in the area during wet years. During dry years, it can drop 6' from full pool. My pond is 1 to 1 1/4 acre at full pool.

Since the majority of cover for fish is in the upper 8' of water (and for juvenile fish it's in 4' or less of water), I have a hard time getting recruitment. The large fish eat all the small ones once they don't have a place to hide. Plus all the cover is out of the water and looks ugly.

When my pond is 5' below full pool, I pumped water into it and measured the amount that the pond water level rose. I can pump 25 gpm in to the pond. I found out that at that level, I lose 18 gpm from leakage. If the pond was at full pool, and the water table was at a low level, I'm guessing that I could have somewhere around 40-50 gpm leaking out, but that's just a WAG. I do know that at 36" or so below full pool the well will not raise the water level at all pumping 24/7 at 25 gpm. So, with the increased area of the pond bottom at full pool, and the increased psi on that pond bottom, I'm guessing that I'll see a much greater gpm loss.