Well ive managed to keep the water level down now for a few weeks but its still muck up to my knees and real soft. Its too the point that I would like to rent an excavator to clean out the bottom of the pond but I'm really wondering if I might get the machine stuck which would be horrible. The pond is surrounded by trees with only one clearing big enough to get the machine in so the pond will have to be dug from the inside so I cant dig from the shore. Anyone have any experience with how longrit may take to dry out?