Does a pond "breathe"? Is it important?

"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
...
I may not use the proper terminology, but if anyone can make heads or tails
out of this and responds or tells me where I can find more information I
sure would appreciate it.

There seems to be a sort of local water table with respect to ponds. To
put it one way, if you dig a hole in the ground and fill it with water
will
the water drain out? If it does, the hole must be above the local water
table. If it fills up with water by itself while you are fussing with the
hose to try to fill it up, I'd say the hole is well below the local water
table. I'd guess unlined ponds behave much the same way. Some are above
the local water table and others are below it or intersect it.

From what I know if the bottom of a soil pond is above the water table the
water will drain away. If a hole fills in it's below the water table. Some
ponds with certain clay soils will not empty but retain water.

If a pond is normally above the local water table it always must drain
into
it, even if only a little. The water flow (granted it may not be very
much
at all) will constantly go from the pond into the ground. There are
times,
however, (like after a heavy rain) when a saturated ground will actually
result in the local water table being above the pond, and the water flow
will be from the ground into the pond. Depending on the porosity of the
ground and how much rain there was and things like that I could see this
kind of reversal happening several times a month. I realize that this
kind
of movement is very slow, is it so minimal in most cases as to not be
worth
considering? I can't find anything on it, so maybe it is insignificant.

No one can say. It depends on how much rain you get where YOU live and YOUR
soil conditions. You can have a friend call your county (Agricultural)
extension agent for information on your area - and who you can contact for
the information you seek .

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA
We are the CroMagnon of the future
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
Aquariums: http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastada...ium-Page4.html
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
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