Pond Boss
Posted By: Chris R Is there a right answer? - Pond Depth - 07/10/20 09:02 PM
I’ve searched the indexed files until I couldn’t anymore. Seems as though there isn’t a “right” answer to this question.

I am digging a 1 acre pond. Will stock with bream and bass. Will go with a 3:1 slope. What is the depth I should shoot for? The pond shape is irregular but is around 221’x195’.

If I am reading everything correctly, the slope of 3:1 all the way around will make the pond much more shallower than I intend to make it.

What depths have worked for you guys in the past? Do I shoot for a certain depth from the bank and make a 20x20 hole that is much deeper? So what would that depth I shoot for be?

Any help is appreciated!!

-Chris
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Is there a right answer? - Pond Depth - 07/11/20 12:25 AM
If you can aerate it try for at least 8 ft and better 10-12 feet.
Posted By: esshup Re: Is there a right answer? - Pond Depth - 07/12/20 11:48 PM
Depending on the soil type, you can shoot for 3:1 slope until you get to around 6-7 foot water depth then increase it to 2:1 if possible.

I'm a little more aggressive than Bill C., I'd shoot for 15' depth as long as you were going to put a bottom diffusion aeration system in it.

In my personal pond, we renovated it and went down to 22' depth. (roughly 1 acre pond) Hurricane Ike rolled through before we got geotextile fabric down and washed 3' of sand down to the deepest part. Considering that we will bounce 4' or more in water level between wet and dry times of the year, that now 19' deep hole could be 15'. If I had only made it 10'-12' deep, that could have been 6'-8' max depth but I knew how the water level would change, that's why we went so deep.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Is there a right answer? - Pond Depth - 07/13/20 02:02 AM
esshup has good advice especially if the pond will go through drought periods. Soil structure often determines pond depth. Deeper toward 18ft is often better for long term benefits. Weed problems are always in the shallow areas not the deep middle unless the middle area is shallow.
Go as deep as you can. "Too deep" is a function of safety (aforementioned slope) and pond size, subsurface soil/rock types, and your wallet.

The pond will only get shallower due to silt, sediment, and erosion over time. The deeper it starts out, the longer its lifetime.
Posted By: Rrobin Re: Is there a right answer? - Pond Depth - 10/14/20 09:42 PM
Originally Posted by Theo Gallus
Go as deep as you can. "Too deep" is a function of safety (aforementioned slope) and pond size, subsurface soil/rock types, and your wallet.

Does this apply only under the premise that the pond is aeriated?

From what i understand a deep unaeriated pond might have a zone with low DO below the thermocline,
so when the thermocline is disturbed - for example in a big rain event or sudden cool down - the water is all mixed and
therefore the DO in the upper layers is lowered possibly resulting in fish kill. Is that correct?
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Is there a right answer? - Pond Depth - 10/17/20 01:38 AM
Rrobin - Yes you are correct. unaerated deep water below the thermocline can have low or no DO, but not always. Depth of DO production or availability is dependent on how clear the water is thus allowing sunlight to penetrate so vegetation and phytoplankton can produce oxygen due to photosynthesis. Clear water with visibility of 7ft will allow oxygen production as deep as 14 to 18ft regardless of a thermocline. It is called the euphotic or photic zone; learn about it and how to measure it.

https://www.lakeaccess.org/ecology/lakeecologyprim9.html
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