If the water in your bucket well is 60' above the pond level, then I would guess they are not interconnected.

My guess is also based on the water in the bucket well and pond being more 'static' than flowing.

I always thought that interconnected water had to level itself the same.

Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."