Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Can I keep my pond with just rain water?

I am new to pond building and I’m thinking of creating a pond on my land. I have over 10 acres of land near the North Georgia Mountains and I was wondering if I could use just rainwater to keep my pond level high enough for fish to survive. The pond is slightly downhill, and I want it to be about 15 feet deep. If rainwater would not be good enough how else would I be able to create this pond?

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, if your soil will hold water, you can use only rainwater to keep the pond full. But, the rainwater would also have to enter the pond in the form of runoff from some of the surrounding land. Do some reading in the "Pond Construction" section especially "selecting a site" "building a dam" and "soil questions". I would also contact the Pond Boss Office or hit the store on the home page and purchase the book "Perfect Pond, Want One?"

Also, there is a branch of the USDA in every county, called the NRCS. They can tell you how much watershed you have for the area that you are considering for a pond.

Do a LOT of planning before digging. Getting everything planned out before starting will save you many $$ during construction. Find a good pond builder, not a dirt mover. There IS a difference. If the pond is built incorrectly, it could cost you just as much as the initial pond construction costs to fix the problem.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, yes, yes on all esshup said. Also, you might want to consider a spillway or drain much larger than you need. If you get a big rain, mountain runoff will be coming extremely fast, and it will need to be dumped as quickly as it comes in.

James -- welcome to Pond Boss.

I second, and fully agree with all that ESSHUP says.

I don't have any statistics, but I believe that the majority of the ponds in non-tidal areas of the east coast states, from Georgia into New England, are filled with runoff rainwater. Some rely on water from springs or wells, and maybe even by diverting water from streams, but it is my feeling that they are by far the exceptions.

Please don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. The Pond Boss group has an incredible base of people who can provide very practical advice when building ponds -- from the intial planning, through the first harvests of fish.

Ken

FWIW, my pond will go from 6' low to overflowing in the Spring due to snow melt and Spring rains. I haven't calculated my watershed, but in a normal year, it's enough to fill my pond.

We're talking somewhere around 2.5 million gallons of water to do that.