There was an interesting article in the Highlands Newspaper this morning talking about the health of Lake Sequoyah. As you probably know, the lake is drained for work being performed by the town. This has given everyone a good look at the bottom of the lake. Tree Stumps are evident all along the bottom.
This is the same scenario with other man-made lakes including Swan lake on HCC property. In the 1920's, trees were cleared and a dam was constructed to create the lake we know today. These tree stumps mark the original depth of the lake. When you look at it like that, you realize silt may not be as much a problem as once thought. The fact of the matter is, these lakes and ponds simply were not deep to begin with.
The Corps of Engineers permitting is very clear on dredging. Dredging to remove muck and sediment is one thing. This involves removing the loose material and stopping once you reach the original, native soil or rock bottom. Dredging a pond to make it much deeper, going past the original depth involves much more on the permitting side. If fact, it is very much frowned upon.
I will also use #15 pond as an example. Anytime a stream feeds into a pond, sediment will accumulate at that junction. This is the case on the 15th hole. However, if we were to dredge the pond on the 15th hole (as we did in 2005), the look wouldn't be too much different than it is today. This is because the upper portion of that pond sits on solid rock about 24" under the surface of the water. Unfortunately, this pond will never be deep. I am not sure what year this pond was built, but for many years, it was nothing more than a creek running in front of the tees. Building ponds in Highlands (in my opinion) is a bad idea because they become nothing more than a silt trap. Creeks, naturally pass the sediment downstream.
In an environment that receives over 100" of rain per year, contains a lot of rock and slope, sedimentation will always be a challenge. However, we need to keep realistic goals when it comes to the depth of our ponds.