First off this is my first post and man is there a ton of information on this site. I would like to start out by describing what i have and what i am going to need. i just bought my grandfathers land that has had a 2.5 acre pond on it for 25 years. it used to be as deep as 14 ft and has very little structure. well, now that it is mine now, it is time for some attention. the problem is that the pond is fed naturally by a few underwater springs. the main problem that i am seeing now is that it looks to be no deeper that 8 or 9 ft because it is filling up with silt. is there any way to stop this or do i need to pump it out or get some machinery in to do it? you can step in it and it will go up and past your shin in some spots. its easy to drain so that is not a problem. i want this pond to be as best as i can make it so it may take me a few years. first problem is the silt though, right to get it back to its origonal depth?

Welcome to the forum!

If there are springs feeding the pond, then water while work is being done will be a constant problem.

Drainging the pond as well as you can, possibly making a channel for the water to run out of the pond basin as the work is being done (if possible) is the best, or just keep pumping it out. If the pond bottom can't be dried out enough for a dozer, then about the only other option is a tracked excavator.

we can prety much open our valve on our drain line and it will just leave very little water. it is nothing big. it takes the pond a few weeks to fill back up. maybe a month. its been a while.

The silt is caused mostly by organic matter entering the pond and decaying, or by sediment getting washed into the pond over time. The build-up cn be slowed down by aeration which helps aerobic bacteria live in the pond bottom. It might take a few months for a pond with just muck on the bottom to dry out, but with the springs there, I think your best bet is to open the drain, get out as much water as possible, and then use an excavator to get the silt/sediment out. Be careful when you get past all the sediment. If the pond was built with a clay liner, you want to leave the clay liner in place.

One thing that pops into my mind when hearing about a pond needing cleaned out, after having cleaned out three of them myself, is the question if there is an alternative site to just build another pond.

If the pond is strategically located, or the land availability makes the current pond the only option, then often cleaning out the existing pond is the only available avenue. After having cleaned out ponds myself though, it is my opinion that sometimes it might be just as cost effective to build an additional new pond and leave the old one as is or do just little improvements. For example, if a pond is in a remote location and another location is available that is just as good for a pond, building a new one and leaving the old one might be a good choice.

This obviously is not going to work for everyone or every situation. In fact, probably only a few specific situations.

I just bring the idea up, because for some people and situations, starting over and adding to the pond numbers might be the best choice over refurbishing an old one.

Not my recommendation to you countryjwh, just something to add to your thought process.

One thing comes to mind in your case may be contacting someone with a Gradall,these machines have a boom that extends to around 40 ft and the one I seen in operation had a 36 inch backhoe bucket as well as 6 ft scraper blade . The pond i seen being scraped this machine (and probably in your case too) couldn't reach the middle of the pond but sure did a great job with what he could reach all while leaving the water in it.
The operator had enough experience that he claimed he could feel the clay liner at the bottom so he didn't disturb that.
Of course I have to think these machines come with a price..lol
Good Luck..Larry