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Hello, my name is Jim. My wife and I purchased a 20 acre mini farm that has a waterfall that feeds 6 ponds that were built about 30 years ago. We also have another pond at the front of the property that is fed from a drainage tile under the main road. From what I am told, the 6 ponds were built for fish, but at some point someone used these for raising fresh water shrimp. The waterfall flows year round and flows at least 30 gallons per minute (I checked flow using 5 gallon bucket, filled in less that 10 sec). The falls feed a stream that flows into the first pond, which has an overflow pipe going to #2 pond, and the stream continues into #3 pond. The #4 pond is fed from the stream (it is actually just a really wide stop in the stream) and has overflow pipes to feed #5 and #6 ponds. After the stream passes #4 it continues and flows over another falls and along the back of our property. The ponds are all in need of a LOT of maintenance. There are a lot of trees around all of them, the #1 pond dam has washed out next to the overflow so #1 is mostly a mud puddle with a stream running thru it. The rest of the ponds have a lot of muck, algea and weeds growing in them. I estimate that we have more than 3 acres of surface area. The depths are mostly 3-4 ft, but the #2 and #6 are maybe 6-8 ft at the deepest. The pond at the main road is about 1/2 acre and about 6 feet deep, but is also filled with muck, algea, weeds and was covered with duckweed last summer. Along with the pond maintenance, I am also building hiking trails thru our woods with a bridge over the base of the falls.
I am not usually very active in forums, but I hope I can learn how to manage these ponds the right way. Thanks in advance for all your help!
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