In Origun, the chance of losing fish to drought conditions is pretty rare no matter how deep or shallow a pond is, but for good insurance, 5 years ago I deepened my 2 acre pond to 20' deep when (seasonally) full. (2 weeks with a D-8 and rippers can really move some dirt and I had a blast to boot!
) For the record, I generally lose about 4 feet per year to evaporation which is easily replaced by Thanksgiving, as the case has been so far. Needless to say, without aeration (early Spring through Fall) to keep stratification at bay, I was getting some very heavy "turn over" the first couple of years. I didn't lose any fish, but the smell and dirty coffee color was incredible. My question is, other than shear mass of water and the stable summer water temps I can maintain, what are some of the pros and cons to having a deep pond, vs a more shallow pond, or did I just answer my own questions?
