Originally Posted by labman
To size a pump you need to have some idea of the volume and pressure you need. If you just want to move the water down hill, you may not need to have much pressure, and the farther down hill you go, the more pressure you will have at the bottom. Go to Lowes, HD, etc. and look at their sump pumps. If you put it up on something just below the lowest level you want the pond, the pump will shut off when the water gets down to that level. Water likely will continue to syphon through the pump after it shuts off, but only down to the pump intake.
You could accomplish the same thing by running a pipe through the side of the pond at the level you want. Either way will maintain the level of the pond at the height you want no matter how much or how little water is common in.