Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water 10K to renovate pond w/natural spring - what now??

So we bought a property that had a nice large pond on it. we decided it was really mucky so we broke the damn to let it drain over the summer to dig it out and redo it. Well summer came and went and we noticed that there was always a trickle and about a foot of water in the bottom of the pond. It wasn't a deep pond only like 15 ft maybe. So the Cats came in and dug and scooped out the bottom, but every time they did - boom water would boil up. So we are assuming this means it has a natural spring. They can't dig any deeper because they keep hitting water. So we decided to dam it back up and after 4 days if was over 1/2 full of water. What do we do now? Is this pond a lost cause? did we just waste $ trying to fix this pond? is there anything we can do to make this a nice pond? We are in Northern Iowa where ice will get a foot thick...can fish live in a pond that is only 15 ft deep? Thanks

It sounds like you are not concerned about keeping it full (most of us have the opposite problem where the pond leaks and we have to continually pump it full) You are saying it will fill fine but you wonder if you will have winter kill? I would say there are several things you can do to keep from winter kill, but my pond in West MI is probably similar latitude as you, we get lots of ice and cold, but perhaps you get more sun than we do as you have no lake effect clouds.

My pond is only 8-9 feet and no winter kill.

Can you keep the ice cleared of snow, or maybe the praire winds will do that for you?

If you keep vegetation in check that will help

You can run a shallow water aerator in the winter.

If you got the muck out at least you will benefit from that improvement.

It sounded as if the pond dam was sort of repaired after breaching it. There has been a lot of discussion on the forum about how to properly make a dam. If the dam was breached, a patch to repair it may not be in your best interest.

Explain your concerns and plans with the dam and we'll try to help.

Welcome to the forum. Some of the Minnesota PB members certainly can help with the climate and the concerns about winter kill.

Hey Pugh,

Welcome to PBF!

I am not a pro but here are my thoughts...Is the water bubbling up from just one spot? If not, you may be seeing water table water coming in. Water table ponds can work. I have one and so do several other members. You just need to learn to deal with large level fluctuations. What is your soil in the bottom of the pond like; clay or something else? If you do have a water table pond, I recommend you dig it deep.

Hopefully, someone way smarter than me on this will chime in!

Again welcome to PBF!

Bill D.