Hi there! Recently I started taking care of my parents' land and they have a medium-sized pond that they would like to "clean up" and eventually be able to swim in but I'm not familiar with this type of thing and need some help in getting rid of some invasive water plants as well as improve the quality of the water in general, if possible. Their well is situated on the outskirts of the pond closer to the road and didn't want to have anything I do to the pond affect the water source they use for their home.
Their neighborhood is in the foothills (oak woodland) of the Sierra Nevada at approximately 1,450 feet in elevation. There is a series of 3 ponds almost equal in size that sit on a seasonal creek and theirs is the third. I believe all 3 ponds are manmade though the creek itself is natural. I've attached pictures to help draw a picture of what I'm working with here. It would be nice if it could be kept as natural as possible, but I am open-minded. Preferably, I don't want to mess with the wildlife inhabiting the pond too much. Despite it being how it is, there's still quite a few species that thrive there.
Is there a way to scrape the water plants out? Is there any native plants/animals I could introduce that could help with water quality? Not sure exactly what to do, these are just some thoughts I've had. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :)
