Thanks! Great thoughts! I never thought about the likely leaky place being between the high and low water marks, but as soon as you mentioned it... That makes a lot of sense. Also never considered the pathways that tree roots could provide for water, other than uptake.
I'll be much more diligent in trying to figure it out now, especially now that I've seen the bottom and know that it's just a flat clay surface. I'll need to clear as much organic material from the sides before the water creeps up, it's filling fast according to the photo my dad sent me. Almost to the first barrel on the floating "dock".
The tractor might be a worthwhile investment, but the sides of the pond are really steep, I'd worry about rolling over. I'm sure I can figure out a way to compensate for the grade. Could always use plywood in the pond and only go straight up as opposed to parallel.
I have a feeling we'll eventually need to do something like the polymer treatment to get it totally sealed, but unsure if thats the right move, since we don't know how that will effect the trees. If we do keep more water though, we could just have it over flow into the ground so maybe no difference at all as far as quantity of water getting to roots.
Thank you very much for taking the time to help and advise. You've given me some good things to think about.
Jesse
Last edited by JesseJames87; 04/26/22 12:37 AM.
