we are planning to drain our pond this spring to repair the dam (see:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000120) . i'm not concerned w/ creating fish habitat in the pond, only wanting to hold water to flood 1 (maybe 2) marshes.
with help from the nrcs, a 10 acre shallow water marsh will be built on the west side of the pond this summer as well. to ensure proper flooding, we will pump water from the pond into the marsh in the fall.
the 70+ year old pond has collected a substantial amount of silt over the years. how high can we raise the water level in the pond w/o compromising the integrity of the dam?
also, considering creating underwater and above~water islands to increase both water depth and holding capacity. will "silt islands" eventually settle? if not, i'd also consider pushing silt up to create a "bridge" across the north end of the pond (+/-50yds long).
one other idea i've had is to have the dozer push silt west into a 4 acre area (shaded green in aerial pic). i'm planning to plant pin oaks in this area so that eventually we'll have a green tree reservoir which will be seasonally flooded for waterfowl. anybody know if pond silt (once dry) will support vegetation (i.e. trees)?
finally, if the price is right, i'd like to create another marsh below the pond this summer. (see:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002274#000000 ).
the emergency spillway drains excess pond water around the east side of the pond dam. if the marsh comes to fruition, i'll need to find a way to flood this area seasonally. if a dam (or series of dams) were built in the runoff waterway, we could pump water out of these collection ponds to fill the wetland. still another thought would be to place a long pipe in the pond dam to channel pond water down to the marsh. any ideas regarding ways to flood the potential marsh site?
