Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? New property, old pond. What to do?

I just purchased some property and it has a small pond on it. Looking at past dates on google earth, it was dug sometime around 1975. The pond flooded 3 years ago during Hurricane Harvey. It is now covered in some kind of thick vegetation. Initial thoughts are to drain the pond and access what I have, then possibly get some equipment in there and clean out the sludge and start over.

Any idea what this vegetation is? Any recommendations or suggestions on how to go about this? We are south of Houston. The pond is about 150' from one end to the other. My kids are 10 and 13 yrs old so I'd like to get some perch and maybe some bass in there for them to have fun with. We are about to start building a home on the property, so really don't want to sink a large amount of money into the pond. I'd love to hear any thoughts or suggestions y'all may have.

Just a guess, but it looks like Salvinia. I hope somebody corrects my guess, because that's nasty stuff.

Salvinia

When earthmoving equipment is on the property to do grading and foundations for the house, that is the best time to do a pond renovation project!

I would suggest you keep doing research on Pond Boss forum to determine your best course of action on your pond. There is literally an expert for almost any question that you can ask.

(My problem was that you need to have some knowledge about ponds to be able to ask the experts the "right" questions.)

Good luck on your house and pond project!

P.S. If your pond dimensions are actually a 150' x 150' square, then your pond is 0.52 acres.

Best wishes, Rod

I've confirmed it is Giant Salvinia.

FishinRod, I am here to hopefully get advice on what course of action to take. I'd like to first drain the pond so I can assess what I have. Can a trash pump do this or would the salvinia be too much and clog it?

After draining, depending on depth and muck, possibly dig it a little deeper. In the end, I just want a body of water that is nice to look at and that my kids can catch some perch and maybe a few bass.

I appreciate any advice yall can offer. What would YOU do if it was your pond? Id not want to make it any larger. Deeper maybe, but not take up any more space.

Hey 45,

I am in the same general boat as you, and not to brag, but think I am in a little better starting position, haha! I just bought some property in the Plantersville area. The pond on it is about 1/8 acre, and was made sometime between 1958 and 1965. I have some vegetation around the edges, but have seen some bluegill and some decent largemouth (which have no problems eating grasshoppers that get thrown in the pond!). I am trying to figure out if I should just leave it, or if I should try digging it out and addressing the vegetation issues.

One thing I have thought about doing, is digging a larger (roughly 2 acre) pond on the back of the property, and then once it is stocked, converting this smaller one to a catfish only pond. I would pellet feed them to keep the size up, and it would be a great small pond where the kids are almost guaranteed to catch something.

If you want to get a fairly accurate size, I recommend using google maps. You can zoom in as far as possible, right click a point on the edge of the pond, choose measure distance, then click points all around the edge, until you get back to the start point. It will give you the area, and you can either use google to convert it (just search for sq ft to acres), or just divide the area by 43,560. I added a picture for you. My pond measure .1446 acres, which is just over 1/8th.

I am going to keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone has any input. Best of luck with yours!

So, any ideas how to drain it? Trash pump? Siphon made form PVC? Just not sure if that Salvinia will clog the drain.

Am I even asking the correct questions? Just thought I'd get more than a couple replies....

Just looking for some guidance from you experts on this pond. Admittedly, I don't really know what I'm doing.

I prolly wont be much help for ya but I will take a stab at it. If I was going bring in equipment to dig it out I wouldn't worry bout the vegetation because it will be removed also. If theres no fish in there tht you care then drain it. When I drained mine (only halfway). I took a bucket and put the pump inside it. Made the bucket like a big washing machine tub. It had lots of small holes in it. Mine I was more concerned with mud clogging it up. If you get some kind of trachoe to clean it be careful. It could disrupt a clay line which hopefully it has. Hopefully I didnt create more questions than answers which I tend to do.