csullivan :

I agree in part with Meadowlark's post above . But it all depends on your pond. Most 30 year old ponds have siltiation in deeper areas. If all you are doing is removing silt the chance of causing a leak or breach are small if done by someone who is experienced in lake work. It would be good to know your lakes original depth.

Next I would point out that for areas as far south as central Miss. & Ala. and north La. it gets cold enough for deeper water to be helpful. If you look into thermoclines you will find they are a warm water event in most of the south. When cold weather comes , at least as far south as noted above, the cold oxygen rich surface water sinks and the thermocline is reversed. This is called turnover. After winter turnover the deeper water in your lake is both warmer and more stable than the surface water and it has enough oxygen for fish. Why does this matter? If your goal is to raise lunker Florida strain bass or F-1s which are less cold tolerant then it is good to have some deeper stable warmer water for them to escape to when the surface water gets cold in winter. That is why we have deeper water with cover from bottom to 2 feet. We find in winter the bass are in deep water around the cover often as deep as 14 feet. We have verified this by temp. readings , sonar, underwater camera and fishing.

I do not know if this applies to Dallas but I know it gets the same type of weather as cent. Miss., Ala. and north La. in winter. I don't know if Houston , New Orleans and Mobile get the same winter turnover. There are lots of folks from your area on the fourm who can verify if your area experiences winter turnover.I hope this helps.ewest