Cecil,

It's not just the Midwest...this is the driest summer I've ever seen in East Texas. The only thing saving me was the wet winter that preceded it. Still, my ponds are at record low levels...and no rain is in sight.

Normally in such conditions, with the high natural fertility I have, I'd be completely overrun with algae. There is not any visible algae in 4 out of 4 ponds...floating or submerged. Not even a trace. Tilapia have worked their magic.

Three out of four ponds have no pondweed at all. The only pond with pondweed, and it is chocked full of it, is my largest pond that was artificially fertilized a year ago last spring. I also lost the grass carp in that pond due to escape during the winter rains. I'm not going to treat it at all until next spring, but will be restoring the grass carp this fall. If I can ever recover from that mistaken fertilizer episode, I'm convinced a steady state, no chemical, equilibrium can be reached...until Nature throws a curve. \:\)