My pond is fed from a shallow ditch that winds through my property but originates at the neighboring farmer's field. Probably a 100+ acre field so the amount of runoff that my pond gets is tremendous. The water is always muddier than I would like it to be and i'm certain it's due to the almost constant runoff. After a big rain event it is muddy and in a few days it clears.

Since the water is running through the ditch on my property before it gets to the pond I have several places where I can make a sediment pond. My questions are:

How close should it be to the actual pond? The area I would like to do it is about 100' from the pond but I have the ability if needed to make it farther or closer.

Can I dig a small sediment pond by just using a backhoe to deepen an area of the feeder ditch before it enters the pond?

Does the sediment pond need to be staggered or offset from that feeding ditch to be effective or can it be just a deep hole that is inline?