A series of dye-tracer tests were performed to trace the movement of surface runoff entering a karstic groundwater flow system through open swallets located upgradient from a large pond used for aquaculture research in central Kentucky. Generally, the surface-water component of farm-pond recharge is easily identified; however, the groundwater component generally is less obvious and can be poorly understood, especially in karst terrane where the direction of groundwater flow can differ from that of surface runoff. A total of five dye-tracer tests, using qualitative tracing techniques, were attempted during different hydrologic conditions. Dye monitoring was done at 22 springs and streams that generally encircle the dye-injection sites. Dye injected in one swallet during dry weather was detected in water from a spring that issues from a hillside and drains to the research pond. During wet weather, dye from a different swallet flowed to a spring that drains into a stream at the eastern border of the farm. Results of these dye-tracer tests indicate that the research pond is vulnerable to potential contamination from agricultural chemicals applied to fields in the watershed above the pond and also surface runoff that drains into the groundwater flow system can affect the surface-water quality of nearby streams.