Ric:
I spent about 9 years on our vol department and we hadda suck water out of ponds several times over those years to fight grass/timber fires.
It's not easy, but it works. We never relied on hydrants, but had a floating intake on 30 feet of hard hose that would reach beyond most "moss rings" to clean water. It only required 6 inches of water to work. Hadda be careful you didn't wind the pumpers up too high and suck in sand, sticks, or fish...
Only bad part was having to flush the trucks/tanks with potable water afterwards. If you didn't, man those trucks got to stinkin' after a week or so.
