Never seen our personal pond water so low - my questions is - strictly because of the extreme heat and no rain or should they have put something special down as the base…to keep it from absorbing into the ground?

I see some other ponds around that don't seem to have gotten anywhere near to the level mine has….maybe they are adding water? Or have a special base?

Thanks!

Check with the MUD if in Texas. Some MUD's have agreements to allow HOA's to keep ponds full. Some do not.

Most Texans don't know what that is because MUDs don't exist anywhere near them.

Not part of a mud district or hoa.

This is a personal pond/tank with some fish and for horses to drink water…..

normaleagle05 said:

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Most Texans don't know what that is because MUDs don't exist anywhere near them.

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Off topic, but what? 20MM of the 29MM in Texas live in one of the 4 metros.

Water bodies will lose about an inch a week in Texas due to evaporation in the summer. Maybe a little more based on our current temps and lack of clouds. I think cows can drink 40 gallons a day when its this hot. Figure in minor seepage and a decent herd and a small pond can drop pretty quickly.

If you see a pond behind a very nice house that was recently built, chances are the owner is paying a hefty electric bill to run his pump 24/7 to keep the pond filled.

If your pond was fine in the winter but is dropping now, it's probably just a function of the heat.

Well there are over 1200 in Texas…

I suggest Bud Light. Similar to water and readily available.

My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

Stringfellow Hawke said:

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I suggest Bud Light. Similar to water and readily available.

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Is there a possibility of upsetting your steer to heifer ratios with this method?

fullback44 said:

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My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

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How big is his pool??? We have a 38k gallon with no shade, and it drops maybe 3-4" total a week.

average_joker said:

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Stringfellow Hawke said:

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I suggest Bud Light. Similar to water and readily available.

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Is there a possibility of upsetting your steer to heifer ratios with this method?

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I read that heifers prefer topo Chico…

fullback44 said:

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My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

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your buddy has a leak

Lots of older ponds were built because they were spring fed. Just because a pond/tank has got good water does not necessarily mean it's being pumped full.

Howdy Dammit said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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Most Texans don't know what that is because MUDs don't exist anywhere near them.

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Off topic, but what? 20MM of the 29MM in Texas live in one of the 4 metros.

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Harris County is the uncontested epicenter of MUDs statewide. No where else in the state is anything like it. The cities do what the MUDs do everywhere else.

There are some low population density, county size, MUDs, but they're rare and for a small population.

Houston MUD developers have begun to metastasize to the rest of the state. They face a natural head wind because their developments' tax rates are high for what they're offering.

Click thru to the viewer.
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/gis/iwudview.html

aggielostinETX said:

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fullback44 said:

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My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

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your buddy has a leak

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Your buddy has a significant pool leak. Ours was losing about 2" per week, with some periods of rain. Post fix, 1" max per week.

The Last Cobra Commander said:

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aggielostinETX said:

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fullback44 said:

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My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

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your buddy has a leak

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Your buddy has a significant pool leak. Ours was losing about 2" per week, with some periods of rain. Post fix, 1" max per week.

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He should start by checking the gasket in his multiport valve.

My pond has a plastic liner with dirt covering the liner. So theoretically no seepage although I'm sure there are a few small punctures. Full it's between 1.5-2 acres. It's as low as I've seen it. I started pumping water in last Wednesday to hopefully maintain until we can get some meaningful rain. There is a lot more loss to evaporation than one would think. It's been a really tough summer.

normaleagle05 said:

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Howdy Dammit said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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Most Texans don't know what that is because MUDs don't exist anywhere near them.

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Off topic, but what? 20MM of the 29MM in Texas live in one of the 4 metros.

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Harris County is the uncontested epicenter of MUDs statewide. No where else in the state is anything like it. The cities do what the MUDs do everywhere else.

There are some low population density, county size, MUDs, but they're rare and for a small population.

Houston MUD developers have begun to metastasize to the rest of the state. They face a natural head wind because their developments' tax rates are high for what they're offering.

Click thru to the viewer.
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/gis/iwudview.html

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I get that. I just thought it was a widely known term since they exists at some level in/around all major cities. Houston definitely is leaps and bounds more prevalent though.

Yeah. Ours dropped about a foot with a solar pump working through the day. The shallow areas evaporated the most (of course) and now the pump is keeping up with the evaporation of the deeper areas (1.5-2'). Deepest areas of the pond is ~8'. Pump line is elevated 3' above water surface in order to aerate the water a bit.

Plastic liners aren't the best for cattle unless they are buried 3-4' deep. We were able to move some in clay around for all except the deepest part of the tank which is (typically) spring fed.

That's sad in a way. Growing up in west Texas then moving east it's like 2 different states.

AJ02 said:

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fullback44 said:

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My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

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How big is his pool??? We have a 38k gallon with no shade, and it drops maybe 3-4" total a week.

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He had a leak once before .. they fixed it … not sure what's going on but he said during the winter he does t have to add water .. maybe it's where his pool sits relative to the suns angle or something who knows… maybe the Chupicabra is getting the water at night or possibly ET is sneaking in too, he may have Chewy w him as well

fullback44 said:

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AJ02 said:

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fullback44 said:

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My buddies pool is losing a foot of water every few days …. It's just evaporating faster than normal ….

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How big is his pool??? We have a 38k gallon with no shade, and it drops maybe 3-4" total a week.

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He had a leak once before .. they fixed it … not sure what's going on but he said during the winter he does t have to add water .. maybe it's where his pool sits relative to the suns angle or something who knows… maybe the Chupicabra is getting the water at night or possibly ET is sneaking in too, he may have Chewy w him as well

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8 months is a long time.

pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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My deer, turkeys, and all the wildlife that utilize it beg to differ.

Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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Go on

Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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Good thing that is not for you to decide. I will use my water how I see fit, including watering livestock and wildlife.

Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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Who are you to decide?

Not trying to tell anybody how to run their land, but there are other ways to provide water for wildlife that are far less prone to evaporation.

AgLA06 said:

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Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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Go on

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Given all the water evaporating from lawns and ponds in Central Texas, we should be having a flood right now if it were a 1-1 cycle like that. it isn't.

txags92 said:

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Not trying to tell anybody how to run their land, but there are other ways to provide water for wildlife that are far less prone to evaporation.

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Can't put all the fish in a water trough

AgLA06 said:

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Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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Go on

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Not sure what the "Precipitation" part of that cycle is.

dmart90 said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Deepin theHart80 said:

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pumping ground water to fill up a surface pond, just to watch it evaporate. What a complete waste of precious water. Water that is becoming more scarce by the day.

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Go on

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Not sure what the "Precipitation" part of that cycle is.

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New Army's never seen rain...

docb said:

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txags92 said:

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Not trying to tell anybody how to run their land, but there are other ways to provide water for wildlife that are far less prone to evaporation.

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Can't put all the fish in a water trough

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They will help feed the wildlife when the pond dries up.

Not trying to decide for anyone. Just stating my opinion. Feel free to state yours. After
All, they're like *******s, ever body's got one.
But you might feel different when your well goes dry like a few around here in Central TX have recently. Hope that doesn't happen to you.
And there are ways to provide water for livestock and wildlife that don't lose as much water to evaporation. But it is a free country, and you are free to waste all you want.