Smhog,
Glad to help in any way I can. No, doesn't seem overly complicated. I noticed in a post above someone recommended fertilizer. I certainly would not do that in view of your objectives for a clear water pond....recognize that swiming in clear water and having quality fishing aren't completely complementary objectives, i.e. totally clear pond water is not conducive to optimum fish growth. That's not to say you can't do both(fish and swim), because you can, its just to say that fish growth and carrying capacity isn't optimized by clear water.
From looking at the pictures, my input would be to get permanent grass growing as soon as possible on the exposed banks that surround the pond. This will go a long way toward achieving your objective of clear water. I'd recommend common bermuda for my area but not sure about Kansas.
I recall a good thread about building beach areas in small ponds...maybe you can find it with a search or someone can point it out to you. The message I got from that thread was that you need to provide some type of "container" for the sand, otherwise can expect to loose it over time.
Regarding "moss" or algae. That is often the result of nutrients in the water at an amount that exceeds the capability of existing plants to utilize. In micro ponds, many experts recommend plants that absorb or utilize those nutrients as a means of controling algae. In a pond of 1/4 acre, that probably isn't feasible.
With swimming as an objective, I would really want to avoid the use of chemicals to control/prevent algae. Several natural methods including barley straw, corn meal, cotton seed meal, etc. have been recommended. Myself, I recommend Tilapia. I believe from other posts, they are legal and available in Kansas. If you use Tilapia, you will need to also have predators present such as LMB and/or HSB to control the Tilapia offspring if you want to avoid a fish kill during the fall season. The fish kill isn't really a big deal as long as you are out in the country where nature's clean-up crew can work its magic. If in the city with neighbors and limited natural clean-up crew, you may experience some unhappy neighbors for a couple of weeks.
At any rate, miminize the nutrients and the algae won't be as much of a problem as otherwise.
Don't hesitate to ask questions....now is the best time. The hard part may be in deciding what to do with varying/differing answers.
