Thanks, guys!
To clarify, I have no intentions of removing or replacing this box! In fact, I really like it and I think it's a great system for this pond.
We already have marine-grade 2"x10" boards (salvaged from another unrelated project) that we had already talked about using to control (raise) the water level in the summers when the pond has been dropping lower than we like.
And, I would never consider capping off the whole top of the box - I like the suggestion from David U (above) - it's kinda what I've been wanting to do when we had some money for the materials.
Thanks, David!
While I was typing this, I got a call from my pond partner who was at the pond - he says everything is fine. Apparently our hard work of getting all the debris away from the notch in the box has paid off and the water seemed to have only risen a few inches and is now back where it should be. (Some of you will remember that we only "discovered" and purchased this pond a couple of years ago - it had been virtually abandoned so, we're still in "catch-up" mode.)
Of course, part of our "problem" is that we bought this pond before either of us could really afford it. But, we couldn't let an opportunity like that pass us by! We bought 46 acres, including the pond, for $11K - all we wanted was the pond. As we get money, we'll keep improving it.
