Help with large old pond.
My buddy's family has a 13 acre beaver made pond with about 3 natural springs on remote propery in upper PA, and i would like some help in figuring out the best ways to help him rehab the pond. We dont have a huge budget as we are relatively young but we can get some assistance with bigger aspects from his family if we can show justification to the cost and prove its working.
(I am a family friend and we vacation up there in the summer)
Problems: Pond is mucky bottom all over, hydrilla has taken over most of the pond( and by the 4th of july its so dense that a 10hp boat has issues moving through it), its a pond thats a few hours to drive so it would need to be weekends, and we both probably only have like 1-2 weekends a month where we can work on it.
We have access to big tractors and property we can move the muck and plants out of the runnoff path, we have a few boats we can use, though only 1 right now with a 10hp 2 stroke.
Our goals are to clear a small dock/beach area, eliminate close to all of the hydrilla if possible, cull some of the lilly pads, and not create a large fish kill or harm the beavers.
Right now we have pulled some of the lilly pads in the dock area and last year cut some with a DIY weed razor during the 4th but it wasnt super effective.
Our current plan is to start at the end of this year by trying to pull/cut some of the hydrilla and lillies to help keep the water quality better in the winter and get some would be plant matter out. Then once or twice a month go and cut the grass with the boat and weed razor to hopefully get at least the deeper areas free to start. We are going to drag a chain at the beach/ dock area to hopefully expidite a lot of muck removal in that area and begin to treat with tablets, and install a solar powered submerged aerator in the shallows (6ft, most of the pond is 8 to 14ft) near the dock area to hopefully promote some aeration while not turning over the pond. And causing a fish kill.
There are already some grass carp but we are unsure how many are left due to eagles and cranes pulling them out.
The current ecosystem is bass, bluegill, crappie, and bullheads, snapping turtles, painted turtles, and beavers. We potentially are looking to add channel catfish at some point as well.
We could use some help with determining the aeration schedule/setup and maintenece. Determining best plan of attack and ongoing maintenece to the pond to keep it healthier and cleaner. Adding beneficial habitat and hopefully natural baceria enhancing structure like rock piles and cover for fish habitat. Enhancing the fishing for all species in the pond. And lastly best much removal and repurposement ideas as the pond is located on a farm where we may be able to use it as fertilizer for the surrounding feilds for deer crops.
Any help would be appreciated as we are relatively new to this.