Couldn't find a category this fits in well but here goes: 1 acre spring fed pond in E Tx, 3 yrs old, bass and bluegill with 20# tilapia this year, 50 acre watershed. Had a major silting in event a year ago in the upper end so here is my plan: drop the water level a few feet for a couple of weeks to expose and dry out the upper end then have the silt dug out and make a silt pond in the form of a mini pond in line with the feeder creek dammed up with rocks that will allow hopefully filtered water to continue to flow while holding up silt in the mini pond. We are in our drought period but it should end shortly after the work is done and water is already cooling so I think this the ideal time of year. Will I have a fish kill by lowering the water? Will the silt pond idea work?

Good plan - drop and excavate silt and build a catch pond to help slow down drainage which allows particulate to drop prior to entering your primary pond. Regarding impact on fishery need to understand depth of pond following drawdown - I would recommend at least 5-6 feet to minimize impact on existing fishery. It always helps to wait until temps drop maybe in October as cooler water is higher in DO - and shallow warm water could be the primary agent in a fish kill event. We don't want that - let us know and we can direct.

My silt and or sediment pond works but because of all that moves to it I have to dredge it out every couple of years using a 50hp excavator. I have thought of adding rocks like u mention but in my case it won't take many major rains to sand in the rock crevices. If I didn't have the sediment pond then my big pond would become smaller and smaller most every year.