Hello; Did a little searching. It appears that a minimum of four feet depth is the number being used currently, at least as a guideline for those building a pond for things such as koi. So you should have some capacity remaining during a long cold spell if this number holds up for other ponds. From memory, I thought the minimum needed depth for a portion on a pond was more than four feet. Perhaps I do not recall correctly. Perhaps it was because we were looking at natural and farm ponds.