Also wanted to add an update on my Water Control Structure I added to my outflow pipe last December. It's worked exactly as hoped, and maintained my ponds level around 24 inches higher than before it's install. I have been able to pull a slat (which are 5 to 7 inches wide and slide into grooves on the pond side of the structure) to drop the level a bit for some FA work, and then replace it without any difficulty.
Here is the trash cage I build around it:
Here is the same trash cage following 13.7 inches of rain on Sept 1st (yes, THIRTEEN). I had a rather nasty outbreak of FA at the time, and had actually attempted to 'flush out' some FA via pulling a slat and then pushing FA mats to the outflow. That does work BTW. But NOTHING like what 13+ inches of rain did in 48 hrs. That is what this picture is of....FA (and duckweed) coating the entire outside of the trash cage, around 10 inches thick. The picture if from my boat, so not quite apples to apples with the above picture. The two 'bumps' are the tops of the 4x4s. The fish is a stunted BCP.
