Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Looking to stock a small spring fed pond

You can use the 4" trash pump to keep the pond dry (dry is a relative term) so the excavator can dig in the dry. It will be wet, but not wet enough that the water sloshes the dirt/muck out of the bucket. Start with the pump above the water line. Pump the pond down as deep as possible since pumps are designed to push vs. suck water. Then once the pond is down, have the excavator dig you a shelf to move the pump down to. That way the pump won't be sucking water up a great distance, it will be pushing it up.

Take the inlet hose with screen and shove it through a truck inner tube that is inflated. Have the screen hanging down about 24" from the inner tube. More if it sucks air and creates a vortex that sucks air. That way the screen isn't sucking the bottom of the pond up and pushing it through the pump. I filled up a 30' long intake hose with sand and couldn't move it. Strapped it to the bucket on the excavator and ripped it in half trying to lift it up to shake the sand out. That's when I learned about the inner tube trick.

If the excavator operator can see what he's doing, he will know when he's gotten all the muck out and started working on the original pond bottom. If he sees that, then it's time to move over and start on another area. He can't dig straight down because the muck will continue to fall into the hole. Go talk to the counties NRCS office and get a list of excavating companies that build ponds. Every county in the USA has their own NRCS office, or they share an office with the county next door. You need an operator that knows what he's doing. Even if they might not have their own equipment, you are talking 2 days max once the water is pumped out.

Don't be afraid of pumping the water out and keeping the pump running 24 hr/day. I could tell you a 6 figure horror story about a company NOT pumping the water out and trying to dig a pond. You HAVE TO keep the water pumped out as he's getting the muck out.

Last time I had a pond quoted for hydraulic dredging they were in the mid $50/cu. yd. range but that was years ago.

Oh, the cattails won't utilize enough of the nutrients to stop the algae from growing and cattails can grow out to 48" deep water or greater.