Mule,

I originally typed a very long post to convey lots of information. However, for a new pond person I should have put the key points in bold.

One of the important ones was:

"If one of your springs into your pond is very well defined, then you might be able to control your pond water level."

The other key point was:

"Another option is to just observe your water level for the first year. It may turn out that the low point of the groundwater level is still perfectly acceptable for your usage of the pond."

It appears that you did not have to observe the groundwater level for an entire year to evaluate using groundwater to keep your pond full. If it is too low now, then imagine where it will be at the end of a dry summer. Unless you have a very well-defined spring that you can see dripping water down the bank of your pond, then I think you definitely need to scratch my suggestion!

The groundwater level is controlled by the amount of water into the system AND the amount of water drawn out of the system. Unless you had an exceptionally dry spring, then I believe Snipe is correct about the trees starting to draw significant amounts of water out of the groundwater system.

I definitely DO NOT support cutting down your tree to keep the pond. In my opinion, it is not your tree that is "stealing" the groundwater from your pond, it is ALL of the trees in the area that are now sucking up groundwater out of your aquifer.

After seeing the size of your pond, I personally really like liquidsquid's suggestion to install a liner. That is by far the most secure way to keep water in the pond and discourage roots so that they stay out of the pond. Many of the ponds on Pond Boss are too big for that option, but it should work very well for your pond.

Also, I believe your pond is going to be a "yard pond" with lots of trees sharing the area with your pond. Leaf build up in a pond leads to deposits of "muck", which eventually fills in a pond over time. Since you are going to have leaves and short grass in your yard, then some leaves are going to end up in your pond. However, if you have a liner in your pond, then it may be possible to use a pool vac or some other device to clean the muck and leaves from your pond bottom every few years. (I am not a pond liner guy, maybe one of those experts can chime in on the best way to reduce muck in your pond.)

I think installing a liner correctly, and then doing some attractive landscaping, and then keeping your pond topped off with well water should give you an excellent final result. (The liner installation may create a little berm around the pond. You can probably find some good ideas on the internet on how to turn your liner edging requirements into an attractive feature. That is exactly the kind of project I turn over to my better half!)

Good luck on your pond version 2.0!

P.S. Being "pond nuts" we all latched onto your pond design questions. However, your real reason for digging the pond was because your front yard was so soupy. Was your yard more useable this spring? If you do install a pond liner, then your pond will no longer serve to drain your front yard. However, you have now performed a long-term test on the interaction between your yard and the local groundwater aquifer. If you need better drainage in the future, you should now be capable of designing your own french drain or a similar solution.