"What pond?" says Diane Wilson* of Morgan County, when asked how her fishing pond has stood up to the drought.  A few years ago, her husband built their dream home in rural north Georgia, with features the couple could enjoy during their approaching retirement: a sun deck, a modest swimming pool, and a man-made fishing pond with a dock.  They never expected to see their pond reduced to little more than a mud puddle, surrounded by an eight-foot ring of receded shoreline.

The pond was a focal point for family gatherings and celebrations, especially for father and son, who spent many hours fishing on the dock.  The deepest part of the pond, right behind the dock, was a little more than 8 feet deep at full pool.  Today it measures just over 20 inches.  More than 1000 stocked fish are clustered in this deepest part. 

"When we feed them, they sort of jump up and twist their tail before going back down," Diane explains.  "But it's so shallow that their tail splashing just muddies up the water when they feed."  She has found only one or two dead fish, but worries that the crowding is depleting the oxygen in the water, which could make the fish vulnerable to disease.

The Wilson's home uses well water, so they are exempt from the watering restrictions, but that has not helped.  "At the beginning of the summer, we did use some well water to try to save the pond.  It's a good well under normal conditions. But these are not normal conditions, and we don't want to run it dry." 

Diane explains that their pond will benefit more than most from whatever rain falls, because the landscaping was designed to funnel all rainwater to the pond.  Runoff from the gutters on the house, and from the pool when it is drained, is piped straight to the pond.  Yesterday was the first substantial rain she has seen all summer.  "We got a half-inch over forty-five minutes," she said, "probably enough to offset a week's worth of evaporation.  We'll take whatever we can get, that's for sure."

*Name changed at homeowner's request to protect privacy.