I had a huge drop off and built a retaining wall to bring the lower side level to the upper but I did build up the front of my pond to prevent water runoff from entering the pond.
I used bender board and made a frame. I poured concrete into the frame to create a collar. I made the top of collar level so that the entire edge of the pond would be level.

The collar varies form 6 to 12 inches tall and I made it about 1 foot wide. It created a great ledge to support rocks.

I would think you could kill two birds with one stone by digging out part of the higher side and most of the dirt that you dig and put it on the lower side and around for landscaping.

Be sure that you divert any water runoff coming down the slope around or away from the pond. Or, install an overflow valve or you may run into similar problems that I am asking about today - rocks on the side sinking down when the soil remains wet.

But - you want this to look as natural as possible so that it fits into the landscaping.

My yard is at a pretty good slant...like in a previous post..I dug out the high end and put it to the lower end..It is like an inground above ground pond...to level it I put 4 stakes in a plus sign pattern..north,south,east, and west...put fishing string to each post with a string level...and just kind of eyed it...I'll post some pictures..its 17.8'x15.3'..4000+ gallons...I'm getting ready to dismantle it though...going to move it to a shady spot in the yard...the main pond won't be as big but I'm going to add a stream to it though....enjoy...Dave
ps...after looking at the picture go to the bottom of the page to look at other views

Here is a link that might be useful: DaPond

Remember the raised side will settle a little, so give yourself an extra inch, or maybe two, on the fill side. You will be glad you did this in two years.

Larry is right....I noticed mine settled a little bit...It's just barely a year old now...and I had the rocks off on that end 2-3 times adjusting the level...I would use 4x4's..under the liner...I raised the depth of the pond from 23" to 32"......Dave

I also agree with Larry about allowing for the ground to settle.
Just a thought, having that slope would lean itself well to a stream, if you decide to leave it. You wouldn't have to try and level the pond if you don't want to, you can always dig out a shelf on the high side that's at level with the low. Make sure you line that high side and give it a bank of rock. The liner is neccessary to keep soil from running into the pond when it rains. You can also put a bog behind it, or just dig a trench, fill with gravel, then top with soil to divert rain water around the pond.
Like this:
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Or this:
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That first pic is my last pond, and once I lined the tall side, I never had any problems with runnoff.
The second pic is my new pond, which is still under construction. It's going to have a recessed 7' stream with falls.
In neather case did I build up the low side, which sounds from Delaney's and Larry's posts, that I saved myself quite the headache.

We made my pond square. My backyard is sloped so like the deck with the bar on it in my back yard, we made a frame for it too, for fear that rain might wash what I built up, back down. Actually, it is double framed so we were able to fill the center of it with dirt and so that the paving stones would sit leveled around the edge of the pond. We then built up the dirt against the frame, stretched and tacked the liner over the outer edge of the frame to the second set of two by fours. We then placed the terracotta paving stones on top of the liner and covered the loose dirt on the edge with sod to help the dirt stay in place. That is how I leveled my pond out. I wish I was able to get a hold of some of those rocks like everyone else on here has. My pond would have been done differently.. It only took two days to dig the hole, build the frame, and line and fill the pond, for my three level, 7x7, and 3ft deep koi pond.

Mine is on a slope, and we have just installed a drain pipe all around under the ground with gravel surrounding the pipe, We hope this will help with any water issues and overflows, we tied it into our down spouts to our house.....

Kitt

Hi people I'm going my 1at pond . But not level what can I do ? At far end prob around 12 inch to low .

You're going to have to build up the low end. Here's a shot from the downhill side of the pond I built. There's about a 2 foot difference between the high and low side.

On leveling ground to make a pond work

I have a 16" drop from the high end nearest the house to the 14'at the lower end from the fill needed to provide good runoff of rain. Starting at the high end, I dug the hole down 12", left a 12" wide ledge, went down 16", another 12" ledge and then down another 16". I used the diggings to level everything to about 16" up from the first ledge. Giving me about 48" total depth. I built a form to make trapezoid shaped concrete blocks 3" thick. Lots of work, but then what does a retiree have but time. The shape allowed me to form curved or straight lines around the pond to give it a roughly kidney shape. Ultimately, I used all the dirt to fill the concrete shape with no leftover. I gathered limestone rocks from the hillside beneath the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and laid them on the concrete for a rugged, natural look. My grandson found a chunk of limestone with a roughly bowl shape that had a hole worn in the middle. He gave it to me to use as the "spring "inlet to the waterfall used for aeration. All this nearly 15 years ago. There are pictures buried somewhere around here. Maybe I can find them. Oh, yeah, the hole is lined with EPDM pond liner. After a disastrous massive dieoff 3 years ago, I ignored the pond for 2 years and am now trying to rejuvenate it again. So far I put in 12 feeder gold fish last summer. 2 died off, but I now have 10 healthy 4-5" common goldfish swimming in a very bare pond. I am waiting for planting weather so we can have some plant life again.

I was at a funeral this morning and saw a nice peace lily. I remember when we had one in a large vase with a Beta living under the plant. Thought when it warms up I might try making a float and put in a peace lily. Thoughts?

@ JRB451, your pond looks fantastic. I too have about a 2 foot difference where I am planning on putting my pond. A quick question... Do you have the water going all the way up to the edge of the castle bricks you used or do you have some ground/earth right behind it? I am asking because A) I've never built a retaining wall and B) I know water exerts a lot of pressure and force. So I am wondering how you constructed your retaining wall and whether or not the wall creates the actual edge of your pond. I was thinking of building the retaining wall and leveling off the area first and then dig my pod, leaving about a foot or so of earth between the wall and the edge of the pond. What did you do? I can't tell from the pictures. Also, the castle bricks, did you use glue or mortar in order to keep them in place?

Thanks for any help/assistance with my project!

Shannon

I placed 40 lb. bags of top soil (the kind you buy for $.99) on the boards you see to be level with the block. I tossed excavated soil up against the block, then a liner under lay and then a 45 mil EPDM liner. The liner is not in direct contact with the block.

The pond holds just under 3,000 gallons.

This is my 2nd pond on a slope. The first I used railroad ties. It was 900 gallons. Similar building principles.

jrb451. Thanks so much for your description! Your pond looks fantastic! So, if I understand correctly, you put a layer of cheap soil on top of the boards behind the top of the wall and then underneath of the board you put in the excavating soil behind the wall in order to get some earth behind it and for creating a layer for the underlayment and then eventually the liner to go on top of so that the liner isn't completely up against the stones. So there is about a foot of dirt/soil between the stones and the pond liner. Do I have that right? Thanks for your assistance on this! I'm going to start laying my stone wall this weekend (with the locking castle stones).

Shannon