I share a pond with 2 other neighbors with me being the newcomer to the neighborhood. The 1.75 acre pond is old (30-40 yrs.) with a lot of sediment, no aeration, and lots of trees around it (willow, cottonwood, maple, walnut, etc.). Last year the joint pond owners got together to discuss our thoughts and future hopes/dreams for the pond. They mentioned that they made an attempt years earlier to "open up the springs a bit more" but had limited success.

Do springs become clogged over time and is there a recommended approach to "opening them up"? I've never heard of such a thing.

I'm currently researching DIY dredging via a trash pump. I don't know if excessive silt/muck can choke off a spring and removal of the material would allow these springs to "breath" again or not. I'm new to pond management and I'm learning as I go. I attached a pic of the pond from Google Earth. The springs are supposedly located in the lower left arm of the pond.

Thanks!

I have heard this before in agricultural irrigation ponds. Basically they just dredge them out.

It reminds me of this story one summer where there was no dredge that had any time that could do the job.

This one cat went to the military base got his TNT license and my dad and him loaded the pond with dynamite. 4" plastic pipes with a power washer pump, pumping water down the pipe would allow the pipe to self dig its way into the muck. Loaded the pipes with a charge and grid the pond.

The day they were going to touch it off the Military guy who trained him dropped by just before. Dad and him were going to touch it off in one shot. The guy who wrote them the license said they need to set it off in two different shots or they will crack house foundations 3 miles away.

Sooooo. It was set off in two charges after we pumped the pond as dry as we could. There were fish laying in the field 400 feet from the pond.

I can say that TNT worked really well to clear the pond from muck and silt. The pond would keep up with the irrigation pump no problem after that.

Cheers Don.

What if you succeed in opening up the spring and it then becomes a drain during dry spells?

I've wondered whether you could dig a pond the same way. The dirt would be removed and automatically spread to the surrounding area.....Good project for TJ!

I have that big White Oak stump, and will have at least 7 more. If I could sneak TJ into MI...

A spring is mainly dependent upon the source hydraulic pressure. If someone tapped into the spring at a lower point, the water table has dropped, or even if a new, lower opening formed on it's own, flow will be reduced or stopped at all points higher in elevation.

There are other factors, like source flow/volume/capacity. The source path to your spring may have been very small, so it is theoretically possible that it "clogged", though if and where the clog happened, and clearing it, would be a complete crap shoot.