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Joined: Apr 2018
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Dilley Offline OP
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So I've been trying to clear my pond for a while now and tried the various things including alum. I got to where I was seeing some improvement. Clearer at the top and greener pond not so "tea" colored. Anyway got a big rain the other day and my pond is back to being as brown as it's ever been.

Basically my pond is at the lowest point of my entire property and from many different angles the rainwater washes down to it. Not a singular spot that I can dam off. The pond itself has tons of vegetation around it and grass beyond that, but it's not enough to stop the water run off.

I think we got maybe 3" the other day and the pond went up by about 4'

In hindsight I put this in the wrong spot especially since I have well water to keep it full.

I don't get a lot of rain where I am, but 2" per month more or less comes usually in a 1 or 2 day worth of rain event so each rain event is probably enough to do this. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but doing some research on this specific thing leads me to believe it's tannins that is causing my discoloration?

Or possibly it's just washing new clay into the pond which don't immediately sink?

Curious if there is any hope to this at all?

I guess I could just dam all around the pond, but that would change the entire dymanic. If I was going to do that I'd almost rather just abandon it and start over. WHOLE lot of money down the drain though my wife might leave me if I float that idea to her.

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How old is the pond?

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It sounds like you have more watershed than the pond size can handle. My pond has more than I'd like and I struggle with muddy waters. A 4 foot rise in water with only 3 inches of rain sound like you have way too much water shed. I have thought about cutting a channel (ditch) that diverts some of my watershed so that it does not go to the pond, but, like you, I wonder if it would be better to just spend the money on another pond. I think trenchin to divert water would be better than creating dams (or swells) so think about that instead. I'm living fine with my situation for now as my pond is technically a water retention pond so that my front yard does not flood when we get a couple of days of heavy rain.


Fish on!,
Noel
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Mason jar photos of your water might help a lot.

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My third pond has little direct watershed because I purposefully built a low berm around it to temporarily catch the water and let it slowly percolate through the soil into the pond. How does water leave your pond (spillway, pipe, etc.)?

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Some members have built silt-settling ponds upstream in their watershed to deal with this problem, too.

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Dilley Offline OP
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I'll get some photos unfortunately it's at my Ranch which is a couple hours away. Probably be a week before I can get back up there.

My pond has a spillway basically continuing to an even lower point on my neighbors property where there is a small dry tank. I guess I could do dirt wall or might be even easier to do a dry "moat" around non dam side of the pond that funnels to that spillway. That'd be way cheaper than abandoning it. I didn't know any better when I built it and the guy that did the dozer work did a great job, but he's no pond expert.

It's only 2 yr old pond. Roughly 3/4 acre and deepest point is 8'. I don't have any cattle I want it for a fishing pond. I have lots of fish another thing I did w/out realizing I had a major clarity problem that would not solve itself.

Last edited by Dilley; 09/22/20 03:28 PM.
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I'd give it some more time. My pond has a large, red-dirt watershed, and its water stayed consistently muddy for the first 4 to 5 years, but it now clears within 2 or 3 days after a heavy rain.
I theorize, that after a few years a new pond's basin develops a scum/muck liner. This liner, provided it's not disturbed by livestock or other means, seals the pond's basin and traps the sediment, preventing the re-circulation of the sediment.
As a result, anytime the muck is occasionally stirred up from the bottom it'll quickly settle back down thru the clearer water, as opposed to it becoming suspended in the formerly turbid water.

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Dilley Offline OP
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Gully,

Thank you for your reply. Interestingly enough my property is 100% red dirt. Perhaps I'm being overly anxious. I just really don't want to to get it to a state where I have to drain it and start over. Maybe an unfounded fear. It was starting to look a lot better. Maybe by the time I get back up there it will be back to looking better.

Did you add alum or any other clearing methods to yours?

Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by Dilley
Did you add alum or any other clearing methods to yours?
Yeah, I did an alum treatment during the second year. It worked well for a little while, but the water muddied again after a couple of hard rains.

After the pond eventually cleared up on its own, Chara began growing in the shallows around the shoreline during the Summer. I'm okay with the Chara, as it seems to be a good habitat for forage, and I suspect that it filters particles from the water as well.

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My experience is that bass like chara, probably because there is cover & food there.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Dilley Offline OP
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Thanks for the info again. I do already have a pretty decent run off area setup that I just need to divert some of the watershed to. Think I'll try and do a little bit of that and then just wait and see. I'll be OK with it if I can get it to clear up in a couple more years. clearning this thing has been a frustrating experience.

Some days I like red dirt and some days I hate it. As my neighbor says though it's just something you have to get use to.

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That red dirt might never clear. I see a lot of it when I travel North into places around the Red River.

BTW, Wife might kill you if you spend any more $ on the pond? I think I married her Sister.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP

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