First off this is my first post and man is there a ton of information on this site. I would like to start out by describing what i have and what i am going to need. i just bought my grandfathers land that has had a 2.5 acre pond on it for 25 years. it used to be as deep as 14 ft and has very little structure. well, now that it is mine now, it is time for some attention. the problem is that the pond is fed naturally by a few underwater springs. the main problem that i am seeing now is that it looks to be no deeper that 8 or 9 ft because it is filling up with silt. is there any way to stop this or do i need to pump it out or get some machinery in to do it? you can step in it and it will go up and past your shin in some spots. its easy to drain so that is not a problem. i want this pond to be as best as i can make it so it may take me a few years. first problem is the silt though, right to get it back to its origonal depth?