Too Many Ponds?

It seems that Sepp and others are increasing the number and size of ponds used in projects. I am not sure if this is subjective on my part, or if the apparent differences are due to site specifics. So I have a general question: can you have too many ponds? It is not clear to me (a novice) if pond number and size should be tied to expected water fall, flooding potential, etc. Or if it should be tied to need: how much water does the land need in storage to cover deficits in total rainfall or extreme seasonality. So does anybody have some rules of thumb on sq feet or gallons of catchment per acre using variables such as rainfall, etc? I am currently deciding between two properties: one with a nice slope and a couple of ponds - and plenty of room to go crazy with more, or another fairly flat parcel that would be ideal for traditional Swales and hugelkultur beds (and one bass pond for me to fish).

No, there is no such thing as too many ponds. There are no rules in nature, this is all site, landscape, and climate specific. You must watch your property, read the book of nature, and learn from what observation tells you. The earth is in a critical state of dehydration and desertification because of the human impacts on the landscape. We very desperately need to start reversing this. Nature provides enough water everywhere, yet 1 billion people do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water. With the world in it's current state, you can't have too much water. Water space is highly site specific, but as a general rule of thumb it is good to have at least 10% of the whole area as water.

Judith, Johnny, Zach and Team Holzer AgroEcology