So I bought a picturesque 7-acre pond this year in upstate NY. Thanks to those that answer questions for me before I bought it. So it is a wooded canyon with steep banks. One side is hemlock forest, and the other very steep side is hardwood. Its absolutely beautiful, but I imagine those hundreds of hardwood trees dropping leaves in the pond mucking it up. Its been this way for 50 years since it was built and I do believe its mucked up alot- its max dept is about 6-f ft- it was probably double that originally. While I may need to drain and muck with dozers and excavators someday, I was wondering if there any system people use to gather leaves from small lakes like this before they sink? Ive attached some pictures.
JimNY, Interestingly as I read your post it occurred to me yesterday as I was putting the homemade trash rack on the bottom pond drain I never felt or saw any leaves. My pond is 2.7 acres with a small stream as well as multiple springs feeding it surrounded by deciduous trees. My conventional pvc piping is 10 inches and definitely undersized for the amount of rain we have had in Virginia this year. Earlier in the year after a heavy rain I noticed a large amount of leaf debris on the pond dam after the high water had subsided. After the most recent heavy rain there was no longer any leaf debris left on the dam. I theorize that most all of the leaves and silt have washed over the emergency spillway with each subsequent flooding. As far as your question goes, are tilapia legal in your state? If so Rainman has seen where they have dramatically increased the depth. I’m sure someone who has used them will reply as we can’t have them here. Thanks for your post! It made me analyze my own pond. Heppy
