Spring-fed pond
A spring-fed pond is a pond supplied by a spring, a place where underground water finds an opening to the land surface and emerges. The phrase names the pond's water source; it does not describe the pond's size, its inflow in a dry season or the quality of its water.
No Virginia definition, so the meaning comes from spring and pond
No Virginia statute or regulation among the sources behind this glossary defines a spring-fed pond. The phrase is a description, and it has to be read one word at a time.
The first word does most of the work. A spring, as the U.S. Geological Survey uses the word, is a place where underground water finds an opening to the surface and emerges because an aquifer has filled to overflowing. USGS says springs range from intermittent seeps that flow only after much rain to very large flows. A pond fed by the first kind and a pond fed by the second can carry the same label on a listing and behave nothing alike in a dry month.
USGS adds that the quality of the local groundwater generally determines the quality of spring water, and that groundwater withdrawals in an area can lower aquifer levels and reduce a spring's flow. Those are statements about the spring itself, not about water that has stood in a pond. So the phrase names a source; it reports no measured inflow and no water test.
The second word is the pond: water held at the surface where the spring's outflow collects. A spring box is a different thing, a covered box used in collecting spring water, and it has its own entry.
The Dam Safety Act looks at the dam, starting with height and impoundment capacity
The spring does not decide whether the state's dam rules apply. The structure holding the water back does.
Virginia's Dam Safety Act defines an impounding structure as a man-made structure, whether a dam across a watercourse or a structure outside one, used or to be used to retain or store waters or other materials. The definition then names two size tests, and a dam that meets either one is included.
| Dam height | Impoundment capacity | Included |
|---|---|---|
| 25 feet or greater | 15 acre-feet or greater | Yes |
| 6 feet or greater | 50 acre-feet or greater | Yes |
One exclusion concerns farm dams. It covers dams operated primarily for agricultural purposes that are less than 25 feet high or that create a maximum impoundment capacity smaller than 100 acre-feet. The qualifier is about how the dam is operated, and the statute lists other exclusions besides this one.
What the seller's disclosure leaves open about the pond
For residential property, the disclosure statement set out in Va. Code 55.1-703 leaves the dam out of the owner's representations.
The owner makes no representation with respect to the condition or regulatory status of any impounding structure or dam on the property
Va. Code 55.1-703, residential property disclosure statement
That line is not a warning that a dam is unsafe. It records that the owner makes no statement either way, so the disclosure statement itself tells a buyer nothing about the embankment's condition or its regulatory status. Three questions follow from a pond on the land: where the water comes from, whether the dam falls under the Act, and whether any work around the water touches a stream or a wetland.
The last of those is its own subject. Work in streams or wetlands near a pond is covered in wetlands and what they limit, and where a wetland boundary actually falls on the ground is a wetland delineation question. Who may take water from the spring, or from the creek below the pond, is set out in springs, creeks and water rights.
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Questions about this term
Is the dam on a farm pond a regulated impounding structure?
The Dam Safety Act's definition of an impounding structure expressly includes dams 25 feet or taller that impound 15 acre-feet or more, and dams 6 feet or taller that impound 50 acre-feet or more. Among its exclusions are dams operated primarily for agricultural purposes that are under 25 feet high or impound less than 100 acre-feet. Whether a specific dam is a regulated impounding structure is a determination for the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Does calling a pond spring-fed mean its water has been tested?
No. The phrase describes where the water comes from, not what is in it. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quality of local groundwater generally determines the quality of spring water, and that is a statement about the spring, not a test of any pond. A listing that says spring-fed has named a source, and a water test is a separate step with its own report.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Springs and the Water Cycle U.S. Geological Survey
- Va. Code 10.1-604: Dam Safety Act definitions, including impounding structure Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 55.1-703: residential property disclosure statement Code of Virginia