SAN ANTONIO -- A duck pond that's been a popular North Side neighborhood spot for decades has run dry.

The sights and sounds of water are rare at the Eden Duck Pond, located off Thousand Oaks on the North Side.

"It's just the heart of this community," said Eden's home owner association VP Myrtle Parks.

Parks said the pond has been a community treasure since the 1970s. She said it's meant a lot, and not just to the thousand-plus households in Eden.

"It is a public area. We have people from all of the neighboring subdivisions (who) enjoy the pond," Parks said. 

She said they first noticed there might be a problem with the man-made pond when the levels started to go down.

"There is a large evaporation rate, approximately 2,200 gallons a day," Parks said. 

The pond is three feet deep and costs the HOA about $700 a month to try and keep full with a pump.

"In Texas we don't get a lot of rainfall and so we do have a lot of shifting in the natural soils. Come to find out there is a leak in the bentonite in the pond," said Texas Parks and Wildlife urban biologist Jessica Alderson.

For neighbors living in the area, filling the pond only scratches the surface of concern. There's a lot of wildlife at stake that will be impacted one way or another. They've set traps to help relocate turtles, and there are 15 to 20 Muscovy ducks that shouldn't be in San Antonio at all.

"A lot of times it's just one or two people have dumped a couple of the ducks," Alderson said.

Alderson said a lot of the ducks that make the pond their home can't fly.

"They would have to figure out a way to survive," she said.

Since learning about the pond's problems a lot of people and businesses have stepped up to help with funding.

"Restore it by reducing the surface area, but deepening the surface area so the quality of the pond's water will be clearer, cooler, healthier," Parks said. 

It could cost upward of $35,000.

And while the neighborhood waits for results from soil and water testing, the geese and ducks have enjoyed the pond. 

"They're enjoying the fresh water, and that's a challenge, but they are enjoying the fresh water that comes down, and the company that they get from time to time that sympathizes with them," Parks said.

A waiting game for all at the Eden Duck Pond.

For those interested in donating, a GoFundMe fundraising page is available, here.