Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Leave vs remove muck in upper portion of pond

I have been removing 2-3 feet of muck from a 60+ year old 1 acre pond for several weeks and am now at the upper end of the pond where there is a 30 foot wide bottleneck leading to a smaller upper pond area which is basically full of briars and rotting leaves.

I don't know if I should continue to remove All the sediment, or simply remove a foot or so in order to bring water into that area about 2 feet deep on average, possible by adding a dam across the bottleneck. Stated another way, is muck, sediment worthless in an upper pond that will be used more or less as a filtering pond, or is there any value in leaving it alone?



Thanks!

Hey, Tanner, I'm not sure how this got missed. If the upper end doesn't have water in it right now, I would definitely remove all the muck. That stuff is just an opportunity for unwanted vegetation growth and water quality issues. Clean it out before you breach the space between the lower and upper ends, though, as it is obviously going to be easier to accomplish without water - or as much water, anyway - in it. If the upper end acts as a filtering/settlement basin, you'll want to clean it periodically anyway to ensure continued good water quality in the lower end of the pond.

I agree 110% with Todd.

Thanks very much!!

I was leaning (uncomfortably) in the other direction and thinking of leaving the muck in the upper end to cut cost and time, but your comments helped convince me that removal is the right thing to do.

I appreciate the feedback.

I am uploading a few photos of the upper end now that I have removed the muck as suggested earlier. I think it's going to be a great improvement, as it should result in about 2-3 feet of additional depth, better control of brush, and a nice habitat for wildlife/filtration, etc. Note that the "before" photo is a winter photo - during the summer this area is full of briars and brush. I am looking forward to seeing this area as a 3-4 foot filtration pond, complete with with frogs, etc. and more desirable plants.

Big difference!!