Tutorials/Man-made lake

Water is a wonderful material to work with in minecraft because of its special behavior as a fluid. However, water is rather difficult to control in pools deeper than one block and currents often ruin what should be a nice flat lake. Thus, this tutorial will show you how to create your very own perfect lake, be it for decoration or for practical purposes. Note: unfortunaly my schemas aren't as smooth as I had hoped, you'll need a bit of imagination but all the lines are actually of the same length character-wise. This is the best I can do to visualize the principle right now.

presentation
This is the most convenient way to create a two-block-deep lake, it calls simply for a shovel and couple of buckets. It's perfect if all you want is a little surface of water. Note that the deeper the lake, the less practical it becomes to dig it that way.

how to
First, dig a one block deep hole and fill it with water. The size of the hole is irrelevant, as is its shape. You're already almost done, make sure there are no currents ruining your fun then dig one block deeper. The springs of the first layer will fill whatever is under it.

Now, if you've listened to me, you should already be done, but let's say you want a three deep block lake. You dig again, however you should note that under water you do everything at a slower pace. The bigger and deeper your pool, the more it will be a pain to dig.

Kinperial pool; aka very deep lake
The name comes from the creator, Kinperor. The spreading of this knowledge isn't restricted in any way as long as it is credited.

presentation
What you need to understand about water is that it can't create springs if there's no block under the would-be spring. That's the reason why lakes don't fill themselves when one infinite spring is placed up-stream. However, water floats as of now in beta, and if there's a block between two floating springs, a new spring will appear. That is the basis of this technique. Both versions are viable, but this version is the most efficient block wise.

Contrarily to the hole in the ground, you should dig your lake before starting to fill it, make sure it's A-okay and then get started.

how to
The kinperial pool calls for preparation before getting into it. First your pool should already be dug. This is important, because if your lake is 4 blocks deep, you won't be too happy to excavate under water. Make sure there are no holes in the walls where water won't be directly above, this will cause currents and the point of all this is not to get currents

Secondly, set up rows at the first layer of your lake, one block large, two blocks deep (the length is determinated by your pool) and separated by two blocks of nothing.

D= rows (or blocks you'll need to Destroy), X= nothing (later it will be the water), W= walls

WWWWWWWWW

WXXDXXDXW

WXXDXXDXW

WXXDXXDXW

WWWWWWWWW seen from above, the walls are as deep as your pool needs to be but the rows only need to be two blocks deep

Next, place springs of water all along the sides of the rows. You're ready for the next step if you have a layer of calm water seperated by rows of dirt or whatever you choose to use.

WWWWWWWWW

WXXDXXDXW

WXXDXXDXW

WXXDXXDXW

WWWWWWWWW the "X" will become water in this schema

Finally, destroy the rows from the upper section down. This is important, if there's no block under, the new water spring won't form.

WXXDXXDXW

WXXDXXDXW here seen from the side

WXXXXXXXW

WXXDXXDXW with the upper row gone, a water spring is formed

WXXXXXXXW

WXXXXXXXW the top "X" are in fact water springs, the rest is water coming from those

Now you are done ! Enjoy your lake ! Notice that the schema only represents the pattern you need to replicate, the size of the pool doesn't matter. As demonstrated in the schema, you don't need the side of your lake to be even.

presentation
This new version is a mash up of the two techniques above. In theory, the two versions are viable, but this one stands out for the simplicity.

how to
First, dig your lake just like before. Make sure there's no hole without a water source above it directly and you're set to go.

D= rows (or blocks you'll need to Destroy), X= nothing (later it will be the water), W= walls

WXXXXXXXXXW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WWWWWWWWWWW just a plain example of what the lake should look like from the side

Now, add a layer of blocks (I suggest dirt) under the layer that will be filled with water. It doesn't need to must not be thicker than one block, you're just making your life harder if you do.

WXXXXXXXXXW

WDDDDDDDDDW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WWWWWWWWWWW notice the placement of the layer

Finally, fill the one block deep pool you're supposed to have at the top with water, make sure it's all smooth and current-less, then destroy the layer under it. If all was done right, you should be done.

WSSSSSSSSSW

WDDDDDDDDDW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WXXXXXXXXXW

WWWWWWWWWWW notice the "X"s that have turned into "S"s, this is your layer of springs, all that is left is to eliminate the layer "D" under it

Note again that this schema is only an example, the size of your pool still doesn't matter (except for the work you'll need to do).

I goofed a little, aka there are still currents
It's alright, you can fix it rather easily. Depending on the kind of lake you've made and the placement of the current, you should either :

NOTE: a current means there is no spring at the location it is pointing, so when we say "fill the current" we really mean "fill the empty block causing the current".

1) Make a line of blocks at the water level and reach the current. When that is done, place a spring to fix it. Unfortunately, you will need to replace every spring you've eliminated by placing blocks. If you dont want to go through this hassle, you can place the line of blocks one level under until you reach the current and a new spring will be created automatically above the new "ground". Destroy the line and you're done.

2) if the pool isn't too deep, you can place a collumn of blocks that goes under the current, the water should automatically create a new spring to replace the missing one.

3) if it's an under water current, it means there's a hole in the wall or a stray block is blocking the water above this point. If it's a hole, fill it with either a spring of water or a block according to your preferences/plans. if it's a stray block, destroy it to allow the passage of water or if you want to keep a block there, fill the hole under it with water.

Taking Water from a Lake
The water you see in your lake is superficial, what this means is that, contrarily to a regular pool of water one-block-deep, springs won't auto-regenerate. There's a set number of springs in the top layer of the lake, and if you fill your bucket with it, that spring won't be replaced naturally, you'll need to do it yourself by refering to the "goofs" section above.

If you want your lake to give you water forever, you can always fill the bottom layer with water, at this level, the water will regenerate eternally but you'll need to dive to get a new bucket of water.

If your lake is too deep or you don't want to dive everytime, you can either dig a one block deep line that will go around your lake or build a new pool beside your existing one for your buckets need.