On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:33:34 EDT, Chris Barnes wrote:

Um, no. In my part of the state, there are NO ponds that are clear.
The soil has way too much clay that stays in suspension all year round.
Plus the pond gets too much runoff so there is a good layer of gooey mud
about 6"-12" thick (probably one reason why the plants grow so well...).

Now if we lived 100 miles west, in the Texas hill country, the bottom of
the ponds would be solid rock. THOSE ponds can be clear (people
actually dive at Lake Travis outside of Austin, down to about 30').

Well... it would be long, back breaking work. I would know because I
walked across part of the pond this past weekend. Just walking through
the mud & weed mixture was pretty exhausting. Just fyi - I took a 8'
"cattle panel" (heavy gauge wire fence) and used my tractor to drag it
across the pond. It helped clear out some of the hydrilla, but 30
minutes later you couldn't even tell the path I used through the
lilypads (they simply "re-engulfed" the path).

I suspect it would take a crew of 30 high-school/college aged kids a
good 10-12 hours to make a noticable dent. That's what - 300+
man-hours? Not sure I could afford that, even paying "kid wages"....

Oh, and since it was 100 yesterday, the water isn't exactly "cool". :-O

Dang, that a large pond could be that full of plants and neither clear nor
cool. I'm surprised you walked thru it.... or would want to. I hate water
weeds touching my legs, perhaps you used waders? (Doing my best to uncreep
myself out.)

I just skimmed the resource kathy gave, so do tell what did you do and how
well it worked when you get to that point. ~ jan
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Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us