If you are in this position, I would encourage you to explore your options, visit with your neighbors, and see what arrangements can be made. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman has declared all counties in Missouri eligible for disaster assistance. Livestock water supply and distribution systems may be eligible practices. Your local FSA office can provide more details on eligibility and repayment requirements. Looking past the immediate concern, this may be a good time to make some improvements to old ponds.
Ponds tend to go dry if they have an inadequate drainage area or because they leak.
Many older ponds have both of these problems. As a rule of thumb, a pond should have at least 10 acres of drainage for each surface acre. Many older ponds were built close to the top of the hill and have small drainage areas. It is often possible to increase the drainage area by building a diversion terrace from one or both ends of the existing dam on a grade line across the hillside. This will help replenish and refresh the water more frequently when it does rain.