Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help pond freeze

Bill, Interesting you should mention the 2 foot drop and the pond being a "ground water" pond. That is what had happened to my pond this year in Upstate NY. I had put it in the preious fall and the soil was very heavily clay based iwth one spot that was questionable that I tried to address with bentonite. We had a very wet spring and early summer and I have a seasonal creek that has always fed it. When we got to late summer we had a streak of no rain for over 8 weeks. My pond dropped about 2 feet. ( Fortunatly the pond is 12 to 14 feet deep and did not cause too much of a headache. The sides are a sharp drop off to 4 feet deep with a shelf and then a sharp drop teh rest of the way. ) What the drop rate ended up being was about .42 inches a day. I had hoped that this was due to the new pond being dug and not totally settled. We recently had a bit of rain and the seaonal creek filled it back up ad has been running ever since. Thus the pond has remained full. Also last year over the winter the pond remained full. Thus after your comment about a ground water pond a light went off and I think that is the boat I am in. If we have enough water that the ground is soaked or frozen, I dont seem to lose alot of water.

So the million dollar question here is what do the people out your way do with a ground water pond to help it hold? I think the bentonite is not the best answer due to the sharp drop in the sides. ( interesting that it is holding the 90 degree cuts without erosion if the soil does not have enough clay content ) Or could this truly be a pond still settling in? ( This was a dug out pond )

On the up side all the fish seem happy and healthy and going strong.

I also was wondering if I should move my areator from the bottom ( 12 feet deep ) to something shallower for winter? I also will have the seasonal creek feeding it throughout the winter and if it is like last year it will have a fairly steady flow. Also I only areate about 4 to 5 hours a day now due to the nd being unde a 1/4 arce pond. What shoudl I do over the winter? SHould I have it on longer to keep a surface hole open or should I adjust the times once I find out what will keep the hole open?

Thanks all and as always gereat to learn from everyone here.