The second technique involved a large dredge that often had to be lifted into the lake with a crane. Can you imagine trying this in a developed subdivision? Not only was this method inefficient, but it made a big mess and required areas around the lake shore that could be accessed by heavy equipment. The first was to physically remove the wet material utilizing draglines or large track hoes and haul this wet material away from the site in large dump trucks. In years past, there were basically three techniques to evacuate material from lakes and ponds. Of the dredging barge can carry silt and detritus for more The flexible discharge hose attached to the hydraulic pump Water leaches out of the synthetic fabric of the bags allowing the solid material to dry and be easily disposed of at a later time. This material can be easily removed by new hydraulic dredging techniques that deposit sediment in Geo-bags up to a thousand feet from the dredge site. Not only are these silted areas esthetically unpleasing but there is a loss of fish spawning areas and valuable fish habitat.

These areas often begin to vegetate and become unsightly. Many of us have seen small ponds or upper ends or sloughs of larger lakes gradually fill in with silt to form extremely shallow areas or even islands. Smith | Originally published in GameKeepers: Farming for Wildlife Magazine.

Pond dredging hook