Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions What is goin on here with my new pond

I keep loosing a little water everyday like 1/4 inch. It’s like it’s seeping up the banks yet. It was constructed about 5 months ago. Keyed and sheep footed. You can see where the water line is and about a foot up the bank it stays wet. Anyone else ever see this

I’ve been seeing that for about 40 years on all of my 4 water holes. Evaporation and thirsty dirt can account for a lot more than 1/4 per day.

When I see that in my neighborhood pond, it's the damp soil remaining after the water has receded due to a leak or evaporation.

Google "capillary action". Now you can say you learned something today. You're welcome! LOL

So is this a problem then? Just never seen it before

JoeDK, if the loss is just due to evaporation, then that's the best case; there's pretty much nothing you can do about it.

If the water loss is due to more than evaporation, then you most likely have a leak which can be a problem of varying degrees especially if you don't have a great water source for the pond.

You've got to starting measuring the loss as a first step.

JoeDK, I agree with Sunil. Stick something in the pond to measure the vertical drop in water. Keep an eye on the amount of rain you get daily/weekly. It looks like you are a little bit West of St. Louis Missouri. If so, look on the internet to find " Mean Monthly, Seasonal and Annual Pan Evaporation Rates for St. Louis Missouri" and compare that data to what you are seeing in your pond. Don't forget to compare that data to your current data including looking at the amount of rainfall in that older data vs. the current rainfall that you are seeing.

It might be nothing to worry about because until all the soil surrounding your pond is saturated with water the water level in your pond will rise and fall, and even after your pond is established with vegetation around it, the level will still rise and fall according to the amount of rainfall you see on a regular basis. The only way around that is to have a dedicated well feeding the pond to make up for evaporation and evapotranspiration losses.

ALL ponds will lose water on a daily basis. Even a pond with a liner will lose water due to evaporation. Anytime the relative humidity is less than 100% you will have some evaporation loss in the pond.

Now if the vertical water loss is considerable greater than the mean monthly pan evaporation rate, THEN I'd be worried about a leak. But until you can confirm that, I wouldn't worry.

Joe,

Congrats on your new pond!

I would definitely follow the advice of esshup and Sunil above.

The good news is that your evaporative losses should slow considerably going into winter.

I would also work on getting some more groundcover vegetation going on your bare soil. When you finally do get a big rain next spring, you do NOT want your clay banks eroding down into your pond - and stealing some of your pond depth as the material settles into your deepest spots.

Get one of those inexpensive plastic concrete mixing tubs from Home Depot. Set it near the pond and fill it with water. See if its losses are close to the pond’s losses. Granted those are black and will heat more in the sunshine leading to faster losses, but you will be surprised.

Water leaves a pond 3 ways: leak, evaporation, and capillary action. Evaporative rates for NE or MO this time of year is less than .1”. Capillary action is real, but generally accounts for about half of evaporative rate. Anything beyond that I attribute to seepage. I’ve spoken to Joe back in late Summer - assume he’s still experiencing some issues. Best method to determine is by measuring vertical water loss using a ruler, etc.

Could be a combination of evaporation and fish drinking the water

No fish yet in it lol. I think its evaporation just not sure why its always wet like two feet up

Tj
Good to hear from you again. This is all done after the new pond was constructed. It looks like I am loosing about 1/10 a day so not much. I assume thats all from evaporation. One thing i cannot wrap my hands around is why its always sloppy muddy two feet up from the water line. Hoping maybe once we this spring rains it will fill up and that will go away. Thanks again for all your help

I think it's normal to see that mud ring and it will probably be there until the exposed surface is covered by grass or the water level rises to the grass. The soil will always absorb some of the water to cause that ring. That's my informal explanation anyway. I'm sure there are more technical terms for all of this.

Be sure and stock only species noted for low water consumption rates.

I've also just had a new pond dug out and have experienced same thing. I think you.re seeing that capillary action others have mentioned. Because the pond is new , the dirt is sucking up water. Most notable after a rain and a new water level is achieved. Then I see water level pretty much hold and wet line appears above it. My fingers crossed , don't think you or I have anything to worry about once pond has reached full pool .

For the first year maybe two you could not walk within 6 feet of the water in my lake. Now I can mow right next to the water. Did not do anything, water just quit soaking up the bank.

Thanks I hope not. About how much water are you loosing a day?

We've had rain rise the level about a foot then lose 3-4" I figure some evaporation but think mostly dry dirt soaking up my loss slows considerable after a new wet line is created I seem to keep getting closer to full pool even with the poor rainfall

Me too. Finally, after 4 years of drought, hit full pool. It lasted less than 2 weeks. But, I have a lot of oaks around my ponds.