Hopefully some Phoenix area ponders will chime in and give you some encouragement. In the meantime, you might check out the link below-- looks like there's at least a few ponds in the phoenix area!

Here is a link that might be useful: Greater Phoenix Pond Society

There are some spectacular ponds on the Phoenix Pond Society Gallery. There seem to be ponds for all tastes and budgets. I think you have lucked into a pretty decent ponding group, Liebling. Thanks for the link Prairie bogger.
Liebling, I think you can find many ideas for keeping the pond cool. Someone on this forum even erected sails for shade. They looked fantastic. Of course, depth is going to be your best bet. I noticed some of the larger ponds looked like they began as swimming pools. Sandy

Thanks, Sleepless and Prairie. I need any special do's and don't's for the area. Like, in Ca, I used EPDM rubber for the liner and it worked great. But with the intense sun here, would EPDM just disintegrate fairly quickly, or would it last the 20 years the makers claim? Looking at the pics on the Pond Society link, I noticed a lot of "seament ponds" as Ellie May used to say!

I'm trying for natural curves and doing this on my own--shovel, pick, maddock, etc.

I used to live in Phoenix and I too would want a pond! Shade is going to be your first important issue. If you can keep the sun from hitting the pond with its full force you should be ok to use the EPDM. Depth is also a top factor in keeping it cool or you will be serving fish for dinner. You may have heard the old joke there about frying an egg on the sidewalk? Well it's TRUE, I've done it.

Limit the rocks to the least amount possible. They hold the heat all through the night so you don't want a bunch of them around the pond. If you can avoid placing the pond by any cement fences or patios that would be best. I know Phoenix has a penchant for 6ft block fences and those babies get hot.

There are ways of hiding the liner with plants or even grass, though grass is a nightmare in it's own right. You can use a layer of house insulation (the pink stuff) lay it over the liner edge, don't let it touch the ouside dirt area, let it instead reach into the pond a bit so it will whick water. It will syphon off water for the plants but not leak into the yard. Just make sure you end it at the edge of the liner. (the visible pink will be replaced by a nice algae green) Then layer soil ontop of that and plant in it. You will want to use something as a break to keep the dirt out of the pond. I use branches and build up a wall or well with the insulation before putting the dirt on. Of course you could use whatever you liked. You can even use something other than dirt for the planting medium.

I included a few pics so you can see some of these ideas.

This is how the insulation looks as I start and before I add dirt. I add a thick barrier of the insulation and rock or whatever to hold it from drifting into the pond. After awhile the roots take over and it isn't a problem.

{{gwi:223006}}

These little green tufts are planted ontop of the liner itself in the streams. I used the black filter stuff as the first layer so the water flow is not obstructed, then the insulation, soil then plants.
{{gwi:223008}}

This is a completed covering of the liner edge. The top portion of the liner is just above those little horizontal branches. Below them it blends into a little bog pocket. Totally blended in.
{{gwi:223010}}

Just some ideas on how I handled liner issues while removing rocks. I am working on cutting down the rocks. I hope some of this was helpful to you. And congratulations on your new home!
LeSan

EDPM rubber liner isn't going to last 20 years in AZ it is going to last 50 years. It degrades at the rate of 2% per year under FL UV sun conditions. The other thing I would consider is making waterfalls designed to evaporate as much water as possible as this will cool the remaining water. Also covering as much of the surface area with plants will help keep the water below cool.
Mike

There are many who have ponds in Phoenix. No worries. Tropical waterlilies grow like weeds there. You can have a gorgeous pond. EPDM will be just fine.

You should make the pond deeper than 2' though if you are going to have koi. They develop better muscles when they can swim up and down as well as side to side and deeper water will stay cooler and have less temp variations.

My brother lives in Phoenix and has a gorgeous jungle koi pond that takes up half his front yard. It is 4' deep and he has koi that are 3' long and 15 years old. His goldfish are 1' long. HUGE. I grew up in Phoenix and would move home in a heartbeat if my husband would go.

I've met multiple pond forum friends when I've been home for vacation in Phoenix and seen many gorgeous ponds that do not do anything special because they are in Phoenix. One was in full sun and the plants grew so well she had a business online selling them and still had to compost some.

One thing to be aware of, many desert adapted trees drop a lot of debris, some year'round. Many are evergreen but drop seeds, seedpods, leaves and little branches so don't just plant a any old tree next to the pond for shade.

There is an Arizona Gardening forum here on Garden Web, there is a gal who lives in Mesa there who has a pond. I think her username is AZred or something similar.

Blue, Mike, and Buy: Wow, thanks for the wonderful responses!

I do have A LOT of dropping-type trees in the backyard--20' mesquite, several thornberries (they are dropping tons of pods right now and were dropping fuzzy balls of yellow fluff before), and several acacia and Brazilian pepper trees (the house came this way--and that's after having three trees removed!). I love them, but remember what it's like to constantly have to fish gunk out of a pond. :)

I have one spot picked out under the less messy trees that might work. Not near a wall.

So, 2.5 feet deep? I'm NOT doing Koi, just goldfish--Koi are too much of a responsibility for me right now.

Do aquatic snails do well here?

Liebling

Do aquatic snails (apple snails) do well here? Can you get them at Petsmart or PetCo?

Thanks, I'm digging out the cement now that the weather is a bit kinder.

Liebling

I have 3 small ponds, going on my 4th year. They are a little less than 2 feet deep, pre-formed hard plastic kind. I have goldfish and Koi in all 3 of them and haven't had a problem with the heat or the cold (though I admittedly use a heater in the winter). Speaking of Koi, I have 3 or 4 foot long or bigger that need new, much larger, loving homes. I would be willing to trade for smaller Koi if anyone has a large pond.

I just signed up for this site and I see this tread is old, so I'm hoping I might be able to get some helpful answers... I just purchased a home with an existing pond along with a large red eared slider turtle and a ton ( literally ) of gold fish and baby koi.. At the time of purchase the fish where small tiny fry and the pond was not well taken care off. It had almost 6" of muck on the bottom.. This was in May 2015... Now in August 2015, I have spent over $1,000 bucks on supplies, new pump, filtration system , plants & trees as well as chemicals ( animal safe), I've added a new girl res to the pond and all is well. Except , no matter what I do I can't seem to keep down the algae. I mean, it goes away after a treatment but then comes back in a week.. I'm finding it extremely frustrating and don't know what to do! I'm asking for any advice.... I'll upload some pics from old to what I've done so far..

after a new filtration system and palms

added more rocks along the borderadded an old tree limb for my turtles to sun on So if you notice in the top pic, there was a lot of muck.. As the pictures go on it gets lighter and lighter... My turtles are happy and the fish are over taking the pond.. I thought they would eat some of the fish...This and the sun I suspect are why my problems are happening.. Anyone have any ideas on how or were I can get rid of 60+ fish? And ideas on shade? Without droppings??

Get a bluegill or some type of game fish. That will keep the fish population down.

I happen to have a comet goldfish in need of a pond. Does anyone here still pond in Phoenix?

Original post is ancient but I’ve finally gotten around to finding a forum to learn from and contribute to.

I live in El Mirage and mostly finished my self dig pond a little over a month ago. It’s roughly 6’x15’ with a 3’x6’ bog filter. The main pond is approx 1100 gals. The bog is a little more than a foot deep and full of 3/8” pea gravel for planting. It is fed by an AquaTec pump from the pond that flows into a PVC distribution line under the pea gravel with clean out caps at the end so I can clean the lines of muck and check pump still operational. The pond is stepped from 2 to 3 to 4 feet deep with a foot deep plant shelf for potted Lily’s and a granite waterfall fed from a separate pump. I have 5 large goldfish and 4 little koi as well as a red ear slider turtle. Still have some border to finish but everything has been amazing and it’s getting to be well over 100deg now.

Had a leak in the liner 2 weeks ago. Stopped both pumps so I could determine which side was leaking. Fortunately it was the pond right beneath the heavy granite waterfall. Fixed leak in a day but the 24 hours the pump was off incited the algae to get stoopid! Last few days have used AlgaeFix, natural enzymes and a barley sac. It’s looking good again. But make sure not to use too much AlgaeFix and you MUST ensure your pond is properly aerated in order not to suffocate your critters.

This is my first pond so I’m learning as I go but so far so good. I’ll keep you updated as time goes on. But my English neighbor down the way turned me on to doing a pond. She’s had hers for 17 years. Another thing is to follow the rule of 10gals of water for every inch of fish. With my capacity that means no more than 9. Keeps the environment at its best for your friends. Namaste and good luck!

Here are a few pics the fish are camera shy and hiding in the shade. Gonna do a shade sail or two next weekend.