Keep us informed, Steve.
All of the ponds I've checked had increases in rooted winter vegetation. My theory is that since the ponds are down, and it hasn't rained much the last year, that the sunlight penetration is excellent, even to the point of reaching areas of the pond bottoms that it hasn't reached in a long, long time. Picture this. Nutrient rich pond muck, which hasn't seen the light of day in years is now closer to the surface, and the ice lately, which was not snow covered allowed for the water to reach it's maximum clarity. Suddenly you have a bloom. Once the ice goes off, then the wind whips it up a little and decreases the clarity. Almost immediately the vegetation starts to stress and die.
Is this plausible?
