New pond dropping 1/2" per day - normal?

without knowing anything about your dads soils or how the pond was built it is impossible to say one way or another

like anything else structural though (the pond is a structure) it is not uncommon for integrity to be gradual

quote:

---

He just bought $3k worth of fish, so he is freaking out.

---

I’m not very knowledgeable on this sort of thing but I’d imagine having a 2.5 acre large pond dug cost him way more than $3k so I’d be way more worried there’s a leak somehow than losing $3k worth of fish.

those are rookie numbers. my pond was 10' below my drain pipe last summer before it started raining again...

Honestly, it could be one or the other, and possibly both, but it’s not uncommon for newly built ponds to have some temporary leakage/water loss as they compact/“settle in”.

Is this an leveed pond, excavated, or combo? Was the USDA-NRCS involved in the design, soil survey made prior to construction? They can be brought in, after the fact, for advice/consultation if needed. Does this pond have a drain - often leakage/seepage will occur around a drainage structure.

Even in heavy clay soils, a pond can be “dug” too deep, below the clay layer, and into a “sand lens” resulting in a slow or rapid seepage.

I’ll attach fact sheet on pond leakage - hopefully that is not the issue and it’s just a settling in issue. Renovating Leaky Ponds

ETA: I’m a fisheries biologist (retired) & worked with pond owners for 3+ decades. Leaky ponds was not an uncommon issue.