Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Drain and Bulldoze, or Excavate?

Hello all,
Excited to be a forum member. I have a pond that is just over an acre and over the years it has filled in with silt due to field runoff (will most likely be an ongoing issue). The pond used to be about 20-25 feet deep (according to my dad) and has now filled in to about 5 feet at its deepest. Watermeal and Duckweed have taken over and I usually have a fish die off every summer. My question is, do you think I would be better off draining the pond by cutting the dam out and then going in with a bulldozer, or would there be any benefit to using an excavator to periodically dig out what can be reached?

The quality of the fish is very low due to the yearly die-off and some green sunfish have taken over. It seems to me that draining it and starting over would be the best bet, but I wanted to get some thoughts. If I do choose the draining route, how long do you think it'll take the dirt to dry out enough to get a bulldozer in there to push the dirt out and over the dam? There would be a creek running through the middle and a couple small springs that would continue to flow, but I would think those wouldn't have a major effect on the drying time but I'm not sure.

I was wanting to create shelves at different depths and also add in some fish habitat, so draining and doing that without water seems easier to me. Thoughts?

Thank you in advance,
Matt

I'd cut and drain. That way you remove the sediment that has a BUNCH of nutrients in it which are causing problems like the duckweed. Just plan on it being a year project - it will take time to let the muck drain and dry so the dozer can push it.