I recently purchased a piece of property in lower Michigan in a well know lake area. The peoplerty is very hilly and has 6 separate low spots. One is a 5 acre swamp that was a lake at one time, one is a small water hole in the center of the propert that has grown in, and the rest are sphagnum bogs with multiple berry types. My goal is to improve the water hole and make a section of the 5 acre swap that will winter fish in Michigan.

5 Acre Lake
This once was a beautiful lake with open water all in the middle. I was told by the previous owner that 4 years ago it had a good 4-6 feet of water. I believe the rapid decline was due to poor management and improper game plan. I have found multiple water herbicides in the barn whitch I believe built up a large amount of dead vegetation that ruined the lake. I am looking for ideas on a plan of action to start reclaiming this lake.

[img]https://flic.kr/p/LcSDXX[/img]

Water Hole

This is a smaller 3000 sqft area in the middle of the woods. I would like to create a nice water hole that may be able to hold fish all year to help with weed control. The wil be mainly for wildlife on the property. Like the large lake I am looking for ideas to get this goal accomplished.

[img]https://flic.kr/p/Lao12L[/img]
[img]https://www.flickr.com/photos/92762273@N04/28985838822/[/img] Dang, it doesn't seem to work the same as you would embed a picture from photobucket or from a source on the internet. I'm lost.......

Thanks Drew

Welcome Drew!
I hail from the greater Grand Rapids area and would love to offer help if I can.

First, can we help you fix up the links to the pictures? I think you can take the blue portion of the hyperlinks above (without the img thing) and then go to full screen mode on this forum, and then click on the icon for 'embed picture' choose the top choice for 'floating blah blah' and then paste the link in there. Somehow the picture didn't imbed but if you use that work flow, since you are hosting the picture already online, it should drop right into your post.

Or a mod can probably edit the picture links for you.

Reclaiming a lake is something I have no experience with. In fact, it looks sort of like a wetlands and you might want to be very careful and do your homework before getting too far into this. Depending on your area, your neighbors, where the flood plains are, and what watershed area you are in, it could get dicey.

Often on this forum I have learned the best way to reclaim is to excavate. Years of muck accumulation take even longer to go away with aeration and chemicals. Mechanical removal especially in a large area like yours makes the most sense.

Also, maintaining a desired water level in that lake is going to be a problem unless you have a huge well that can constantly pump into it, or you can seal the bottom with clay or with a polymer sealant or a liner.

I assume you don't have a watershed and dam that you intend to build to keep water in that 5 acre lake?

It sounds like the lake area has a bog or moss/muck bottom?

The more you can learn about how the lake was made and how it was kept up will help you as well.

Behind our property is Stirling Pond on the maps, about 10 acres. When we first moved here 12 years ago, it was a beautiful 3-4 foot deep pond full of birds, mosquitoes, and frogs. Now it has no water at all. It turns out that since it is a natural pond and wetland, the land owners are not alowed to touch it, even to restore it to a pond. The only way it would be improved is if the state DEC decided to come in and do something themselves, which is highly unlikely.

What I am saying is if the wetland is not man made, you may not be allowed to do a darned thing to it without the threat of large fines and a criminal record. Be very careful, do your research, etc.

Good luck, and keep us posted! We will help in any way possible.

Thanks for the advice, it is still a nice feature for our house to look over but I would like it to hold fish. I will contact the DNR about it and see what they say.

SVD,
Great idea to talk with DNR. You may find the official rules a bit strict for your liking, but it is far better to find out where the boundaries of the law are and stay within them and show the agency that you intend to ask permission, find out the laws and follow them, than to have a gorgeous pond and find out later you crossed the line somewhere.

I agree, you will love having a water based feature to look at. If the DNR won't let you excavate to renovate, then at least ask what is allowed to preserve the original lay of the land and to improve the ecosystem (adding native plants, fish, removing non-natives, etc)

Keep us posted!

Drew,
Welcome to Pond Boss. . . tons of good info and helpful folks here! Your place has huge potential to be as you wish. Listen to these guys. They know their ponds...