Part one in our series on managing a small pond for recreational fishing.
Turbidity
How you proceed with this project, will depend on what you are starting with, and with what your goals are. In either case many of the same procedures apply. If you are starting with a newly built pond It may be necessary to get some vegetation growing along the banks. This will be needed to lower the turbidity of the water. Turbidity is simply the soil particles that are held in suspension in the water. If you have a lot of clay, and a lot of rain, the water will probably be muddy. Covering the banks with vegetation, will lower the number of soil particles that end up mixed with water, by helping to prevent erosion.
If turbidity is a problem, almost everything you need to do to will be effected. That is why we bring it up first. We will cover the best ways of dealing with suspended sediments in the next section.
Turbidity problems are sometimes found in older ponds as well. This usually results from runoff of soil containing water from disturbed ground. Plowed fields, and construction sites are sometimes responsible. Increased vegetation around the pond should help with this as well.
Eutrophycation
A common problem in older ponds is eutrophycation. Eutrophycation is excessive fertility. This often occurs when nutrient rich runoff from over fertilized lawns and pastures ends up in your pond. Here, again, vegetation should provide the solution. A thick vegetative barrier can be planted at the mouth of the pond.
These things will need to be done before proceeding to the next part of the project.