Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site WHY DO YOU OWN A POND? (forum members must vote)

4
9
6
16
15

24) A fun place to gather with family and friends
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate
5) To attract wildlife for hunting
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation
9) Swimming hole
12) To water livestock
13) To irrigate crops

For my first pond:
1) Quality private fishery
22) To provide safe, fresh fish as food
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends
5) To attract wildlife for hunting
3) Ornamental landscaping

Second pond:
5) To attract wildlife for hunting
8) Grow-out pond (to raise young fish for transfer)
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation
11) To study all of nature and/or biology
2) To enhance land value

These are my reasons right now. It would be interesting to ask folks who currently have a pond to list the original reason they built a pond versus the current reaasons they like their pond. I bet they differ quite a bit. For instance the reasons I had for my first pond before I built it were:
3) Ornamental landscaping
2) To enhance land value
23) Water source for fire fighting
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate

Note that the reasons at first were nothing but practical. Since then I've discovered the true value of ponds. Maybe I was just trying to trick my wife into letting me build the pond, yeah, that's it, that's what I did!

16,1,22,24,11

16) escape, peace.....

24) fun place for gathering....

6) attract willife for viewing ....

1) quality private fishery .....

23) water source for fire fighting .....

16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise)
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends
1) Quality private fishery
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate
9) Swimming hole

In from "Lake Big Dock"

16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise)
20) A family or personal challenge of actually building it
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation

1) Quality private fishery (where I can fish by my own rules and regulations)
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation
24) Fun place to gather with family and friends
9) Swimming hole
15) To provide non-powered water sports

Time for our first, preliminary tally of voters so far.
Because of so many candidates, selected within 5 different categories (top 5 reasons Why you own a Pond ), I am going to offer the results in 2 different formats.
-
The first format will likely be the easier of the two to analyze and see the bigger picture. I simply tallied all the votes, regardless of their location within the top 5 of each ballot. The candidates are arranged in order by votes; first candidate listed = with most votes. The snapshot looks like this:
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise) 26 votes
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends 25 votes
1) Quality private fishery 21 votes
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation 12 votes
2) To enhance land value 10 votes
9) Swimming hole 10 votes
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate 7 votes
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem 7 votes
22) To provide safe, fresh fish as food 7 votes
5) To attract wildlife for hunting 6 votes
23) Water source for fire fighting 5 votes
3) Ornamental landscaping 4 votes
10) To study aquaculture 4 votes
20) A family or personal challenge of actually building it 4 votes
15) To provide non-powered water sports (ie; canoeing, rowing) 4 votes
8) Grow-out pond (to raise young fish for transfer) 3 votes
11) To study all of nature and/or biology 3 votes
12) To water livestock 2 votes
13) To irrigate crops 2 votes
14) To provide powered water sports (ie; skiing, jetski) 1 vote
Other: been a dream since I was a kid
Other: just for the heck of it
Other: because I don't have the money or land to own a lake
7) Fish hatchery (commercial) 0 votes
17) Reduce local insect population (fish eat bugs) 0 votes
18) Erosion control 0 votes
19) To create and enjoy the sounds of moving water (ie; waterfall) 0 votes

-
-
The second method of tally is a bit more detailed. It is broken down into the top 5 reasons you own a pond. I extracted all the #1 choices from each ballot and tallied only those. I did the same for each of the remaining #2, #3, #4, and #5 choices from each ballot. The results came out like this:
#1 choice (out of top 5)
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise) 12 votes
1) Quality private fishery 9 votes
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate 2 votes
5) To attract wildlife for hunting 2 votes
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation 2 votes
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends 2 votes
9) Swimming hole 1 vote
20) A family or personal challenge of actually building it 1 vote
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem 1 vote
22) To provide safe, fresh fish as food 1 vote

#2 choice (out of top 5)
1) Quality private fishery 7 votes
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise) 5 votes
2) To enhance land value 4 votes
22) To provide safe, fresh fish as food 3 votes
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends 3 votes
5) To attract wildlife for hunting 2 votes
9) Swimming hole 2 votes
20) A family or personal challenge of actually building it 2 votes
23) Water source for fire fighting 2 votes
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate 1 vote
8) Grow-out pond (to raise young fish for transfer) 1 vote
10) To study aquaculture 1 vote
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem 1 vote

#3 choice (out of top 5)
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends 10 votes
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation 6 votes
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise) 5 votes
1) Quality private fishery 2 votes
9) Swimming hole 2 votes
2) To enhance land value 1 vote
5) To attract wildlife for hunting 1 vote
10) To study aquaculture 1 vote
12) To water livestock 1 vote
13) To irrigate crops 1 vote
15) To provide non-powered water sports (ie; canoeing, rowing) 1 vote
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem 1 vote
22) To provide safe, fresh fish as food 1 vote

#4 choice (out of top 5)
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends 6 votes
2) To enhance land value 3 votes
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate 3 votes
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise) 3 votes
1) Quality private fishery 2 votes
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem 2 votes
22) To provide safe, fresh fish as food 2 votes
9) Swimming hole 2 votes
3) Ornamental landscaping 1 vote
5) To attract wildlife for hunting 1 vote
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation 1 vote
8) Grow-out pond (to raise young fish for transfer) 1 vote
10) To study aquaculture 1 vote
11) To study all of nature and/or biology 1 vote
14) To provide powered water sports (ie; skiing, jetski) 1 vote
15) To provide non-powered water sports (ie; canoeing, rowing) 1 vote
20) A family or personal challenge of actually building it 1 vote

#5 choice (out of top 5)
24) A fun place to gather with family and friends 4 votes
3) Ornamental landscaping 3 votes
6) To attract wildlife for viewing and/or preservation 3 votes
9) Swimming hole 3 votes
23) Water source for fire fighting 3 votes
2) To enhance land value 2 votes
11) To study all of nature and/or biology 2 votes
21) A family or personal challenge to maintain a complex ecosystem 2 votes
15) To provide non-powered water sports (ie; canoeing, rowing) 2 votes
1) Quality private fishery 1 vote
4) Provide affordable and convenient water frontage real estate 1 vote
8) Grow-out pond (to raise young fish for transfer) 1 vote
10) To study aquaculture 1 vote
12) To water livestock 1 vote
13) To irrigate crops 1 vote
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation (therapeutic or otherwise) 1 vote

OK forum members....here is the big pitch (again)
The above preliminary tally is based on about 40 posters casting ballots. This forum is comprised of over 3700 members. We have already seen a couple ballots cast by fingerling level members; thank you for your votes! I believe I speak for everybody, particularly the moderators and Bob Lusk, when I say thank you for everyone's participation. Take a look at what we have so far. This is the kind of stuff that guides decisions, provided it is accurate and from a significant cross section. We can have a positive effect on Bob Lusk's thought process as he makes decisions on not only the forum, but the Pond Boss mag itself.
We can really take this thing to a new level, but we need participation from everyone. The thread title says that forum members must vote. That's a bit agressive and a turn-off. It's more like forum member, please vote. We need your support.
thx/Bski
-
-
(edit; if you voted on the first thread, Pond Vote; Election Primaries, and not this thread, your vote has not been counted. That first thread was only used to elect the candidates. There are a number of the forum comrades that posted on the first election primaries, but did not cast their ballot on this thread...the one that really counts. Please do.

Sorry I've been late in casting.

1 Quality Private Fisher
16 Place to escape
21 Maintain a complex ecosystem (or destroy one...whatever)
24 Gathering Place
** OTHER (Create a generational legacy to pass down)

Okay, slackers, here's an incentive to vote.

I figure Brettski spent at least 40 hours doing statistics for the above analysis on just 40 ballots. Figuring that the demands on his time to repeat this ciphering will go up with the square of the number of votes, if we can get another 100 or so forum members to list their reasons for owning a pond, he'll be busy until Halloween. Another 200, and he won't darken our digital door again until after the first of the New Year. It's up to YOU.

Theo Gallus
President, PB Committee to Keep Brettski Busy

Here's the vote for my Dad's pond.

24
22
1
16
10

Here's the vote for my lined ponds.


7
8
10
20
5

Surprisingly great dove hunting if you drain one of the ponds in the fall. I'm actually thinking of doing it early next year on purpose for just that reason.

That's times 2 for the benefit of keeping Brettski busy, right, Bruce?

More work for B'ski is a good thing.

I that think histograms would be a good presentation format with which to digest the data.

An occasional pie chart will also be required.

So much back stuff to read something about voting did not seem interesting to me. Sorry, here it is.

1
9
11
16
24

)Because when I bought the house it was already here
)Weight control (I weigh next to nothing when I'm
in the water)
16) To provide escape, peace, and relaxation
9) Swimming hole

Cam

By golly, she's got two new good reasons, Brettski.

Yeah, that dang Green Party has all the right candidates to appeal to the grass-roots. I'm even thinkin' about converting. I forgot all about the advantages of middle-aged buoyancy.
-
Thanks for the vote, Cam.

B'ski,

Not trying to interfere with your election process but the first, second, third and so on choices for first place, then the first, second, third and so on choices for second place gets a little confusing by the time you get down to fourth and fifth position.

May I suggest simply taking each ballot and giving first choice 5 points, second choice 4 points, third 3 points, fourth 2 points and fifth 1 point. Total the points up and you will have first, second, third and so on listed as the most popular reasons. I'm sure there are simple programs that would do most of the work, free up your time and give the results you are looking for.

Uh oh, what did I just do? Sorry guys.

Dan,
This is our election process. I'm pleased to see your input and think your idea is very good. When I tallied those preliminary numbers and presented them, I knew that the second set of 5 categories would be nearly senseless. I hoped for organizational input. Thank you for rising to the occassion.
-
I like your plan. What say the rest of the posters? Any other ideas?

Aw heck; lets just keep Brettski doing it the hard way. A teetotaler has to really hunt for something to do. Yep, a histogram and pie chart also seem in order here. Of course, we will need to see the standard deviation calculation for proof.

I reiterate that I had to produce and present 813 charts, graphs, and finite element analysis compilations to the forum before anyone would even acknowledge my presence.