Keep your fire pond ready — and know the moment it isn't.

A fire pond is only ready if it’s holding water

You built or kept the pond for one reason: so there’s water on hand if fire comes. But a pond isn’t a fixed thing. It draws down through a dry summer, loses ground to a slow leak, and creeps toward the bottom in exactly the months wildfire risk is highest. A pond that was plenty in May can be too shallow to draft or dip by August — and the way most people find out is a drive out to look, or worse, the day an engine or a helicopter needs it.

Monitoring closes that gap. A sensor in the pond reports the level continuously and tells you the moment it drops below the depth firefighting needs, so “is the fire pond ready?” is something you know from your phone instead of something you hope. It’s the same idea behind the rest of what we do — know what’s happening, without making the drive.

Why a designated pond still needs proof

There’s a real tailwind here, and it points the same way. As wildfire pressure grows, states and agencies are working to designate and map the water sources firefighters can rely on:

• Colorado statute (§37-82-107, C.R.S.) directs the state to identify, designate, and preserve critical fire-suppression ponds that are readily accessible to fire districts.
• An Oregon NRCS drought-and-wildfire watering strategy asks landowners to allow fire-management access and add the water site to Oregon Department of Forestry fire-management maps, generally for sources with at least 5,000 gallons of storage and vehicle access.

The point all of these share: a mapped source is only useful if it holds water. Designating a pond, registering a dry hydrant, or putting a site on a fire-management map doesn’t keep it full. Continuous level monitoring is how a landowner or a district shows a designated source is actually ready — and gets a record to prove it.

What you get on a fire pond

• Level on your phone. Live depth and percentage, with the trend over the season so you can see how fast the pond is dropping.
• Low-water alarm. Set the depth firefighting needs and get an alert before the pond falls below it — while there’s still time to top up, haul, or plan around it.
• Leak and overflow alerts. A rapid-change alarm flags an unexpected drop; a high-water alarm covers overflow after heavy rain.
• Shared access. Give your fire district, a neighbor, or a manager their own view of the same pond without handing over your login.
• A record you can hand over. Any pond’s history exports to CSV for your files, an insurer, or a fire-district map.

The right sensor for a pond

For most fire ponds the default is a submerged pressure (hydrostatic) sensor — the Dam Level Monitor. It sits below the surface, reads the depth above it, and keeps reading under ice, which matters where winters are hard and surface ice would interfere with an above-water sensor. Where you’d rather keep nothing in the water, the non-contact ultrasonic Tank Level Sensor is the alternative. Both report the same level, trend, and alarms; we help you choose by the site. More on the trade-off in Pond & Dam Monitoring.

Built for a pond with nothing around it

No power, no Wi-Fi, no hub, no trenching. The sensor runs for 3+ years on a battery, or indefinitely on solar, and reports over Verizon’s NB-IoT low-power cellular network — or LEO satellite for a pond with no cell coverage at all. Coverage is confirmed at your specific pond before you buy.

A note on what this is — and isn’t

Meterra supports water-source planning and situational awareness. It does not replace on-scene reconnaissance, the Dipsite Manager, or a pilot’s or fire officer’s own assessment of a water source. It tells you what your pond is holding so you can keep it ready — the call on using it stays with the people on the ground.

Getting started

Start with the pond that matters most — the designated source, the one nearest the buildings, or the one you suspect is leaking. Tell us where it is and the coverage there, and we’ll map the right sensor and a pilot. Designated-source upkeep may qualify for help, too — see Grants & Funding for water-conservation and fire programs. Every sensor is backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty.