making water in land

hey guys, I've started editing land for the first time in the *long* while I've been in SL.

So like I'm trying to make a pond. I raised up some small hills around my corner of the sim Im in and lowered the land inside it. Now how do I fill it with water? I lowered the land below sea level even and still just got a big whole in the ground. what am i missing?

(ok nevermind I found it. I lowered the land a little more and there's my water. Is it possible to raise the water level independently of the ocean, like if I want a lake in the middle of the sim, or a lake in a mountain?)

There's currently a bug which prevents water from rendering properly on some sims. If you're sure the land is below sea level (20 meters), and you're not seeing the water, click on the word "World" at the top of the screen, and then click on "Region/Estate". That will refresh the water (for some unexplained reason). It's a weird fix, but it works.

You may want to put up a sign instructing your visitors to do the same until the bug has been squashed.

is there a way to make water, other than prims, at higher elevations? like if I make a mountain and a space for a lake

Nope. Not the way you mean.

But you can create your own 'water' prim and lower it inot the depression.
Its just a cube...stretched to whatever fits, or 10x10x.5
Color the surfaces with a water texture. Maybe add some movement. (see the script in the Wiki for moving textures.) Also the 'waterfall' stuff in your Inventory's standard Library has some good stuff.
You might even want to add some particle splashes and ripples, some fish, a jumping mountain porpoise, ducklings in a circle, etc.

And if you want to be able to swim or wade in your lake, set the prims to phantom.

Not until we get rain that actually fills in holes. Given some of the creative landscaping in SL I am thankful that doesn't happen. (Ahem... where is my drowning animation for when I trip and fall into a 4M deep puddle?)

Other than prims? No. With prims you could get the Swimmer AO and use scripted water. Anyone with that AO will swim. Others will sink. That's as close as you're gonna get for that elevation and having it actually function as water. At least to my knowledge. That's what I use when the build is above sea level.

if you scrounge around freebies spots aswell ytou'll be able to find the splashable water that you can stretch into yuor hole. then if /when people fall or jump in it'll make suitable splashing sounds

For instance my friend Zora Spoonhammer sells a creek module that she built (all original parts) that works pretty well. You can see it in action on Areumdeuli (85,97). It features splash sounds and animations, and caustics, foam, and pebble creek bed as well as some other construction components. She also has a "muddy" alternative version. And will be shortly adding a pond version as well.

This guy seems to have the process down pat:

Now, either you spent a good long time looking for a picture of a peeing mountain goat, or you already had one I'm not sure either answer is better than the other...

Hehe, Erin. I can't give away all my secrets, now. Maybe I have a pet mountain goat, and I went out and took that picture in my back yard, or maybe I know a Tibetan business man who's trying to expand the market for mountain goat pee and I stole that promo picture off his desk, or maybe I have a friend who happens to have a sick twisted mountain goat fetish and he's just into that sort of thing. The world may never know.

And I think it'll be a better place for it

Yes, the world is better off without Saddam, and without knowing where I get my mountain goat pee pictures.

I've had very good results with Siggy Romulus' "Prim-swim" water and his "Swimmer" HUD. I made a lovely mountain-top lake that one could swim in, using his stuff. It's also great for making a swimming pool for a skybox. *grins*

There are several other nifty scripted water items out there that splash when you wade in them. You can also place PrimSwim water or splashable water just above or just below the surface of Linden water, to add splash effects to a swimming area.

For a simpler/cheaper method, a phantom prim with some of the free water textures from the Library, animated with a script from the Library, will do just fine for looking at it or wading in it. Look for "Water" and "Waterfall" in the Objects and Scripts sections of the Library, in your inventory.

As an individual land owner, you can't change the elevation of the real Linden water plane, which defaults to 20 Meters in most sims. If you terraform below the water plane, you'll geta hole filled with Linden Water, at that 20M elevation.