The Farm Pond 17 



THE FARM POND 



The most common type of artificial impoundment and the least ex- 

 pensive to create is probably the woods or pasture pond made by building 

 an earthen dam across a small intermittent watercourse (Figure 2.1). 

 Superficially, these ponds seem to be die simplest type of aquatic habitat, 

 and perhaps thev are; however, intensive investigation of the physical, 

 chemical, and biological characteristics of ponds indicate that even this 

 type of habitat is so far from simple that an exact duplication of any pond 

 is nearly impossible. 



Figure 2.1. Pasture pond formed by damming a small intermittent water 

 course. 



No one knows the exact number of farm ponds in the United States, 

 but in a recent report of the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wild- 

 life,^^ Dr. Willis King estimated that since World War II the Bureau has 

 stocked from 30,000 to 40,000 farm ponds annually, which would approxi- 

 mate a total of 450,000 to 600,000 in this 15-year period. Because many 

 ponds had been built prior to World War II, it is quite possible that tlie 

 total number approaches a million or more. 



Purposes of Farm Ponds 



When farmers who had built ponds were asked to list their reasons 

 for doing so, 80 per cent gave water for livestock as a reason; 70 per cent 



