Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Where Do I Start???

Hello All,
Well, this is my first post as well as my first pond so any help will be useful! I bought this piece of property about three years ago and haven't got around to my pond issue yet. I'm trying to come up with the most cost effective plan of attack on this. It has been neglected for some time, including my three years. Right now it is a mosquito breeding pond. The pond has water year round, the level does go up and down with rain, but I have been told and do suspect that it is spring fed. The property down hill from the pond is wet all year, which makes me think the dam is leaking. My objectives are to: #1- lower mosquito problem, #2- make pond look nice to enjoy, #3- pump water to barn.

Questions: Should I clear around pond and remove trees around it or does that help control water for now? How do I clear the weeds from middle without getting in there? How to clean muck from bottom??

[img]http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtd24/detail?.dir=da2are2&.dnm=ea81re2.jpg&.src=ph[/img]

[img]http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtd24/detail?.dir=da2are2&.dnm=6400re2.jpg&.src=ph[/img]

I thought I had some better pictures but this is all I have for now.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtd24/detail?.dir=da2are2&.dnm=ea81re2.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtd24/detail?.dir=da2are2&.dnm=6400re2.jpg&.src=ph

Another try on the pictures

Welcome to Pond Boss Dtd! Hang on and I'm sure you'll get an expert opinion shortly. The expert's will probably want to know:

How big is your pond (approximate surface size)?

Approximate depth?

Are there any fish in the pond?

You already stated some objectives, do you intend to stock any fish?

I would say 60' x 80'. I did see a couple of fish when I first bought the place, but I don't think they survived the first winter. I dont know how deep, but I'm working on that.

I'm no expert but my first thought is that a track hoe could do a lot of good, making assumptions that it will hold water and there is enough water coming in to keep it full. If it is 60' wide you could dig it deeper with 3:1 slopes down to around 10' will help with the emergent vegetation. Removing some of the trees around it would help cut down on muck build up and reduce clogging of your pump for the barn water. At 1/10th of an acre it may be a good candidate for hybrid bluegill and gambusia minnows to provide some fishing fun and control the mosquitos. Probably the first matter of business is determining the structural integrity of the dam.

How do you check the dam integrity? I have thought about putting in some sort of dye after a good rain and see if the dye ends up on the ground below.