Brad:

It didn't fill up, but it sure got deeper! I had heard that it was supposed to rain so I put a couple flags at the water edge so I could tell how much it raised. Well... I checked this morning and couldn't even find the flags as the tops of them were too far underwater to see. The smallest of the sediment (forage) ponds (the only mini-dam I have managed to finish yet) was nearly filled.

I'm almost to the point of accepting that I might not get all the work I want done this winter. The consequences of that would be draining much of it next summer to finish what I want done. I don't really want to have to do that, but there is still quite a bit of topsoil that I would like out, some shaping I would like to do (mainly underwater contours / structure), the other three mini-dams to finish, and etc. I tried working on one mini-dam last weekend. The 10 wheeler (ex-army dump truck) spun enough on my first load that I gave up on moving much dirt. So I tried doing some other stuff with the trackhoe. Sliding sideways down a slope for about 10 feet in that got my attention. It was slick enough that I never really accomplished too much before having to use the bucket to get myself back up the hill.

Although most new pond owners can't wait for rains to fill up their ponds, I've been hoping for clear weather so I can do more to it. I've also been kicking myself for not allowing myself to take more time away from my work to spend on it this summer and fall.

I'll probably add a coulda / shoulda post to this thread some time in the future so others could benefit from knowing what I did wrong and what I did right.

Sure you can come over and check it out. I'll send you an email. Holler if you don't get it.

Also, I'm hoping to email Chris a bunch of photos yet tonight so there might be some on that link in the future.

Anyone with advice regarding good siphon system design here? I would like a system that I could fairly easily take apart and use in different ponds. It needs to be large enough to drain a LOT of water in a reasonable time. Realistically, how far up could I siphon the water (ie. trying to estimate how low I'll be able to drain it with siphon system)?

Jeff

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