Two general questions. First, are there any guidelines for estimating costs to renovate an existing pond? There are so many variables, wondering if there are ballpark rules of thumb. Pond in question is about 8 acres. I don't know average depth but it's pretty shallow. Guessing it might be 8-10 ft at dam. Most of the pond is 6 ft or less and lots is 2-4 ft. I don't know if it's ever been renovated, probably not, and it is probably, 60-80 years old. On sandy land, is spring fed, but that might be just a trickle in the summer. Too shallow now, lily pads and aquatic growth have taken over. Also, upper, shallow end has a jungle of trees; they look like Chinese Tallow trees to me. I'd like to dig out silt if silt is the issue, or raise the dam, or both. I'd also like to clear out the problem trees. Obviously, will need to drain it, would prefer not to cut the dam if possible.

Second, are there general rules of thumb for costs of building a new pond? (Different tract of land.) This would be in hilly terrain, creating a pond that would need a strong dam to create a pond of, say, 10 acres or more with 20-30 ft deepest depth. The pond would have several natural coves due to the hilly terrain. Based on looking at a contour map.

Just needing any general ideas available. TIA!

Building new is almost always cheaper. Silt is very hard to deal with and probably 3-4X the cost to move and then where are you going to put it. I would suggest maybe the best way to work with what you have with carp and tilapia, or probably best and cheapest route is to build new

Agree on build new. Drying it out in an area like Louisiana that gets a lot of rain can be a problem and could take a long time. Cutting the dam is usually the only viable option.

I am in the process of renovating a small 60yo+ heavily silted 0.9acre pond in Lafayete LA. Took about 6 months with a trash pump trying to get it dry before we could get a tiny excavator in there. Used that to dig a drainage trench which we are now pumping out of (allowing us to pump water from below the nominal pond bottom) which has allowed the pond to "fully" dry enough for real work. All in all, probably took 10 months from when we started pumping to being ready for work. Cost aside, time may be a factor to think about too - depending on the condition of the soil on the pond bottom.