I need help with my pond!

I moved into a new house back in October. It shares about a 1/4 acre pond with the neighbors. From the deck it looks outstanding, however on closer inspection the damn thing is a mess. Ive attached a picture below with some captions. Hopefully some of you civil/water people can help me out with some suggestions.



First of all the area behind my house used to be much larger. There is a stream running through my backyard which catches run off from the area further behind me. Unfortunately the sediment has really started piling up and a large part of the pond has already filled in and has grass, flowers and trees growing in it. Another large section is only a few inches deep and is a mesquito breeding ground. Ive looked into some sediment removal options and found a few places that can get the sediment out, but Im not sure if its economical. Heres the guys I found:

http://www.sedimentremovalsolutions.com/

Is it worth getting this thing dredged/de-mucked? Should I wait until the water gets low and start scooping with a shovel?

The other part is the damn thing is filled with algea and lilly pads. About a third of the water is covered with lilly pads. They look nice, but I really want to cut them back. How do I go about killing off the lilly pads other then wading in with the gardening shears? Ive managed to get the algea under control with liberal applications of algeacide, but I have a bad feeling that the amount of chemicals Im pouring in to keep the algea down is not good for water quality.

My neighbors have a pretty beastly fountain that keeps the water moving pretty well throughout most of the pond, however the afore mentioned shallowness of my end of the pond means the water is pretty stagnant. Im looking at adding a small fountain or bubbler. I would like something solar powered that runs during the day. Does anyone have any experience with these? Are they easy to install?

Muskrats. God damn muskrats. We have lots of them running around burrowing into the banks. I have a rifle and am ready to start blasting them away, but my wife is absolutely against that. My dogs are too stupid to catch them and the pest control guy charges $350 just to come out and set traps. I think I may wait until my wife goes out of town and then invite some friends over for some beer and muskrat target practice, but maybe you guys have some other ideas?

Im trying to avoid turning this pond into a money pit. So any ideas would be appreciated.

If you can drain the pond easily I would do that, rend a back hoe, and take the sediment out.

Unfortunately, the algae is a symptom of another problem. Ponds shouldn't grow algae and algaecide isn't going to work for a permanent solution. Is there some sort of agricultural runoff that could be causing the algae?

If you dig the sediment out that should allow the water to circulate better and at least prevent it from getting stagnant. You may find that you don't need the fountain.

I'd kill the muskrats, but you can also buy a trap for $50. But ultimately you're going to have to kill them if you want to get rid of them.

red x of death on the picture...will have to wait until i get to see

is the pond man-made? also i'm confused, which house is yours?

[edit] think i got it, the one on right side of cul-de-sac

opcorn:

find a road project close by and claim that poor erosion control has caused all this and whine until you get the city / county / state to clean it out for you!

(Thats what people do to me)

have you got fish to eat some algea?

if you can clean out the shallow areas where there isnt much water circulation that should help and there are certain types of plants that also should exist in ponds, if it was built by some developer then it may need to be planted, or wait for the birds to drop it in there and grow..

In georgia the department of natural resources will come offer "free" advice to make ponds healthy (we have one in our neighborhood) and they came and even offered to stock it for a very small price, and they also suggested some plants, if you have a similar agency

RG, thats some good advice. I check the Kentucky NR Department and managed to DL a guide on pond management that has given me some good ideas.

We have fish in the pond, mostly bluegill and catfish. The fish seem to be doing pretty well.

Thanks for the suggestions.

in a related story my son and I are going to make about a 1000 gallon goldfish pond in the backyard.. I figure its always good to have as many incomplete projects as possible.. we put in a little one a few weeks ago, but we need .... "more"

Typically as pH decreases you have more bacteria growing, what you may want to do once you get rid of the excess sediment is test your water.

Lack of oxygen is the most common problem, but it isn't easily fixed, typically shallow ponds have less problems, but if you see the bigger fish dying first then most likely you have an oxygen problem. Once that is eliminated you need to look at chemistry.

You are going to have a problem from a fish standpoint IF:

You are in a region with acidic soil. Are there a bunch of pine trees growing naturally, this is a typical sign.

Your pond water if very clear or tea colored, typical sign of high acidity.

Your pH is below 7 and you have a hardness below 25 ppm

If you see fish dying when the weather is cool and you get rain.

^That's not entirely true. Most swamps/ponds in South Carolina are acidic. There are also a number of rivers that are black from the tannins in the leaves, which makes them acidic. Provided you have the right species of fish, i.e. bream, bass, catfish, carp they are well equipped to survive in acidic water.

Yes, and no, in a pond which has a limited amount of water and food sources having very acidic water is a problem if you want a bunch of fish.

Sure they can and will live, but not in great numbers nor will there be very many of them.

Also, the poster said he didn't like the look of all the plants/algae in the pond, basically he doesn't want it to look like a swamp.

Well I managed to find a local pond "guy" who is coming out tonight to look at it. He can do the de-mucking/dredging, plant control and fish management.

I really think the majority of the problems Im having are related to the fact that large parts of the pond are filling in with sediment.

can you track down where the sediment is coming from?

Road Guy said:

can you track down where the sediment is coming from?

Click to expand...

The pond is being filled in where the stream that feeds it dumps in. The stream is also filled in. The stream is down hill from most of the houses in the, so it gets run off from a pretty large area. I dont think its from anyone one source, just takes in a lot of crap from the surrounding area. Though Im by no means a stormwater guy so Im not sure WTF is going on.

does the stream filling the pond have sediment in it?

they make "floating silt fence barrier" you can put at the entrance to the pond, but if its just normal rain runoff that will be "brown" then it wouldnt work,

take some pictures of the inflow area to the pond if you have a chance

We may need to refer you to the resident stormwater expert in Orlando, FL. He should be able to solve your problems.

You know stormwater design is the most difficult engineering there is...right?

Chucktown PE said:

We may need to refer you to the resident stormwater expert in Orlando, FL. He should be able to solve your problems.
You know stormwater design is the most difficult engineering there is...right?

Click to expand...

I did know that. And if Im thinking of who your thinking of, then surely he can solve my problems. His rates are probably too high for me though. Im sure with talents like that, I could never afford that kind of service.

RG, Ill snag some pictures this weekend of the inlet stream.

^ He has a website you know?

Update?

Road Guy said:

they make "floating silt fence $hit fecal barrier" you can put at the entrance to the pond, but if its just normal rain runoff that will be "brown" then it wouldnt work,

Click to expand...

Fixed it for you ....

Besides, you should never use floating and brown in the same sentence when referring to pond flow. Just sayin' ....

JR

I just now saw this topic. I can't see the pictures. It sounds like this "pond" might possibly be a stormwater control? Is there an outlet structure? If so, it may be the responsibility of your subdivision developer (or whoever holds the original permit) to clean the sediment out of the pond when needed.