Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Draining pond to repair dam

I live on a 16 acre pond that is controlled by dams on either end. It's town owned and the town is going to drain the pond (take 3 days give or take), to repair the outflow dam. Question is what impact this draining will have on the fish, otter, muskrat, amphibian and other dependent wildlife. Expectation is that time from initiating the drainage to refilling the pond will take 7 to 10 days.
Thanks

It depends on exactly how low they reduce the water level to repair the dam.

Many larger projects have a "conservation pool", so there will be a refuge for all of the creatures that require an aquatic environment.

Even if they do keep a significant pool of water in your pond, there will be disruptions to your populations. For example, if all of the fish are concentrated in a small area, then the otters may kill many, many fish in a short period of time.

Likewise, some of the forage fish will be forced out of cover and into presumably open water. The predator fish may eliminate a lot of the forage fish. However, forage fish are usually very prolific. If there are fewer in the pond next year, there should be a lot of resources available for them to flourish and multiply.

I do like that there is apparently a separate water source available to re-fill the pond. All of the disruptions would be much worse if you had to wait six months for rains to re-fill the pond.

Thank you, first time I'll be on the pond when they drain it and I'm hoping there is more than one pool left above the low water mark on the dam sluice. Very curious to see what lurks down there.

The pond is the last of three water bodies, directly above us is another somewhat larger pond, and above that is a large, very deep, and very full lake. The timing of the fix is coordinated with a planned release from the lake to prevent ice issues. Should fill rather quickly once the work is complete but we'll see.