Ok so I have 2 ponds; 1 is about 100'x40' at it's widest. The second and smaller one is roughly 30' across and circular. They are divided by a thin strip of land and teh larger one is a couple feet above the smaller one in elevation.

They are run-off fed, which is the first of my problems with it, second major issue is that they've never been cleaned. There's half a dozen white pines and 2 humongous weeping willows within spitting distance.

I know how bad willows are for a pond but they're both an easy 150' tall and beautiful so there's no way we'd cut them down. Anyway there's a measurable layer of old needles and leaves towards one end of the big pond as witnessed a couple weeks ago when it was bone dry.

Now my plan is, and please point out any problems with this, is to hire a local good ol boy with a backhoe to dig out a couple feet in the deeper end. Remove as much pine needles and willow leaves as can be. Now our grans here is extremely sandy, and the water table is rather high.. say in the neighborhood of 12-15ft. So the thought is that I could give down about that far and let the water seep in. It might not fill the pond but keep some level in there.

Thoughts? Please Im here to be educated so don't hold any punches lol.