Hi ! Feasibility of pond in the desert

[Vittata]

Hi everybody. I am planning to move from a tropical island with plenty of rainwater and lush landscape to Prescott Az (for family reasons). I love to see green everywhere and I will be moving to a less green landscape. I am reading a lot about plants to plant there and how my gardening is going to change by having four seasons (we have only one season here for all practical purposes). Well, I am considering building a nice pond in the house I will be constructing to make my yard greener and attract wildlife. I am not sure How much water I will need to keep a 10 x 8 pond all year long considering evaporation in such a dry environment. I am sure there must be some books or videos that you might recommend me to read and start learning about how to keep a pond before I make any decision. Thanks !

 

[dieselplower]

In a hot and dry climate you can help keep evaporation down by avoiding splashing as much as possible. Rather than having a stream or waterfall that will splash all over the place and cause a lot of evap, you would want to return the water to the pond gently. Of course, not making the splashing will cut down on the amount of oxygen that is brought into the pond so you will probably want to consider using an aerator set down in the bottom of the pond. This will really help with circulation and providing your fish with lots of fresh air. I would say it would also be a great idea to cover as much of the top of the pond as possible with plants. All kinds of them. Floating plants like lilies, hyacinth, and lettuce, combined with other potted type plants will help keep the Sun off the pond and will also help keep the water in the pond. If you could find other ways to provide shade to the pond as well, that would be good. I am in Michigan so it does not get very hot and dry by me. This year I added a couple filters that returned the water to the pond from between 1.5 and 3 feet above the surface of the water. This created a ton of splashing and I had a lot more evaporation than i did before adding those filter. It was dropping by at least an inch a day, sometimes more. I was losing so much water I thought it must be a hole in the liner. It wasn't a huge deal for me since I am on a well and never have a problem with water supply, but I imagine it would be more of an issue for you where you are at.

 

[sissy]

You could build it in an inclosure like a courtyard .I know so far we only have one courtyard pond on here

 

[addy1]

I had a 14000 gallon pond in phoenix, hotter and dryer than prescott. Water wise, it did not add that much to the water bill. Had a float valve to add water automatically, when needed. Had a 40 foot stream with a 4 foot high filter / water fall. It was 5 foot deep over all. The owls would fly in and bath in the stream at night.

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The main thing is to build it deep, if outside, to help keep the water cool in the summer, and in prescott warmer in the winter.

 

[Tula]

Addy, Very cool pond you had….love the owl picture! Kim

 

[adavisus]

A pond loses less water than ground surface like dirt or sand, which has a larger surface area than the smooth surface of water.

Add plenty of surface floating plants, waterlilies, that will further reduce surface area to evaporation

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[sissy]

Mucky has a nice courtyard pond .

 

[Vittata]

Addy, you had a beautiful pond and you have given me hope that there is no problem having a pond in the desert. I would love to be able to photograph an owl in my pond! Thanks to you all for your comments. I have a better idea now where to look and things that can be done. There are many variables I need to consider. I think I am going to love all the way from designing constructing and enjoying my pond.

 

[GreatDanesDad]

I have a 2000 gallon pond in Phoenix. Deeper is better, i went 4 feet and if i could do it again, I would go deeper just because of the warm temperatures. As for evaporation, I keep a float off my hose with a declorinator that is always keeping my water level at a reasonable level. I would be more worried about the cold in Prescott than the dry temperature.

 

[addy1]

This was my arizona pond, flat land compared to here, a slight drop from the house to the back of the yard, made a nice stream bed. I did not have anti chlorination on the water fill, with it constantly going in the fish were not affected by adding city water.

There are so many options on to how you build your pond, just make it deep for heat and cold, really helps stabilize the water.

I miss the desert, but love the seasons here and the ability to plant anything and have it grow, well as long as it is a hardy lol. We get around 40 plus inches of rain, compared to phoenix, which in a wet year gets maybe 7.

The pond was around 14000 gallons, the one mistake I made was it had all 5 foot walls, no way to get out, easily, if you went into the pond. Th pond here I made a walk out end, for me and the critters.


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[Vittata]

Dad, I think you are right saying I should be concerned about winter there. Where I live now it never gets below 60 ! I should be concerned about the freezing water? I would need to use a heater or dry the pond during winter? What are your ideas ? Addy, that was a nice pond you had! Phoenix is dryer than Prescott. Prescott receives about 19 in of rain in a year. That's my concern about the water use and the evaporation since I understand they want water conserved as much as possible. I plan to collect rainwater to maintain the pond.

 

[shakaho]

A gazebo, covered with shade cloth, over your pond can help. These are popular among Florida ponders. Make it big enough that it includes a shaded sitting area for you.

 

[addy1]

Dad, I think you are right saying I should be concerned about winter there. Where I live now it never gets below 60 ! I should be concerned about the freezing water? I would need to use a heater or dry the pond during winter? What are your ideas ? Addy, that was a nice pond you had! Phoenix is dryer than Prescott. Prescott receives about 19 in of rain in a year. That's my concern about the water use and the evaporation since I understand they want water conserved as much as possible. I plan to collect rainwater to maintain the pond.

My sister lived in prescott, mountains outside of the city, they do get snow, it does get cold. My pond is 5 feet deep here, all I do is run a bubbler to keep a hole in the ice over winter. No draining, no fish removing.
By the climate zone map you are 7a-7b, can't tell real easy, we are 6b here, any pond will do fine as long as you add some depth to it.

I use rain water to fill mine here and did the same in phoenix. Some do not like the use of rain water, some do, We are on a well here, so we add water via the gutters. Some feed it into water collection systems then feed it to the pond. Mine is straight dump into the pond.

 

[GreatDanesDad]

A gazebo, covered with shade cloth, over your pond can help. Make it big enough that it includes a shaded sitting area for you.

I think this is probably the best advice on here. Shade helps keep it cool in the summer, reduces the evap. effects, gives your pond a contained area that stays a little more humid in the summer and warmer in the winter, help with keeping the aglae blooms down, and hides the fish from bird's watchful hungry eyes.. Then in the winter months, it keeps excess snow out of the pond area and makes it enjoyable even when it is cold.

In phoenix, the running water and cover keep my plants warm and reduces any frosting that would kill them.

I have attached a picture of my pond. It is unique, but we love it, especially now that the plants have taken off!. You can see the three different pics. First is the top view before the plants and you can easily see the layout of the pond. Then the front pic you can see the Potato plant starting to grow around the waterfall. The last pic is a side view, at this point the potato has climbed the lattice and the whole thing is bright green.

 

[shakaho]

I love your pond, Great Dane's Dad.