My friend, I feel your pain in the toll that lack of precipitation has taken on our ponds. I purchased a 20 acre property in north-central Oklahoma about 7-8 years ago. There was a beautiful 3-4 acre stocked pond on the place along with peach, pear, apple and pecan trees. The gentleman I purchased the property from had sunk a well specifically for the pond and I have kept it running at about 25 gallons per hour almost constantly since I bought the place. The cost to run a one-half h.p. pump 24/7 is $300+ per month in my area. That size pump is not keeping up with the water loss due to natural conditions that we have experienced this year in that size pond. Maybe it could in yours. More research would probably be warranted. My inlet is underwater in a shallower part of the pond and I honestly don't know if this has had a negative impact on it or not. During the summer I became concerned about oxygen levels and as a partial, simple, and cheap measure to help oxygenation, I installed a venturi tee to my pvc pipe inlet to the pond. This is the same device used in hot tubs to mix the air bubbles in with the water. No pump or electricity, the air is drawn in by the stream of water passing by an air inlet tube. Kinda cool. Plus the cool water will tend to hold more dissolved oxygen, until it warms.
I also learned, as the water level decreases, that my pond has a sandy bottom. The higher I keep my pond, the more weight there is pushing down on the water column, increasing the rate of loss through the pond bottom. As the pond level decreased over the last several months, I began to notice two high ridges at each end of the pond. I am assuming that these used to be the north and south boundaries of the pond. When the former owner put the well in, he just let the pump run until the pond reached its next highest natural level and that's probably when I came in the picture. Bottom line...filling from a well is possible, but can be an expensive venture if starting from scratch, not to mention the continuing costs. Good Luck!
