Checking to see if anyone has experience doing a similar project. We have a few sloughs that are fed by run off as well as when the river is out of its banks. Ground is primarily trinity clay.

My goal is to get the water off enough so I can thin out some trees (most 4"-8" in diameter) at ground level to allow more light to get down and disturb the soil in hopes of getting more plant growth. I also have some smartweed on our property along a small tank that I can transplant. Right now it is very thick canopy, not a lot of plant growth. I plan on doing minimal dirt work as It already supports a huntable amount of water right now, just better grading to maximize area and supplementing what natural levee exists.

At the beginning of August I plan to plant millet to supplement any native growth does come up. I can rig up a sprinkler system frome a water tank if need be to ensure it has enough moisture to support growth.

For water control in the future I know I should install a flashboard riser however where this is can be flooded out if the river gets out pretty far and I don't want to spend the money to have them buried or washed away. I am considering putting in a poly pipe with a crank on a tree, poor boy'ing it.

Anyone had a similar project in the past?

Family place along the Red had quite a bit of slough ground. They burn and graze to clear the understory. That seems to really open things up. They have not however planted anything, no need that close to the river here they are. When ducks are down they hit the river, tanks and creeks .
Their sloughs mostly hold water only on high water years.

I'll be interested to see how your work turns out.

Wytex I need to meet your Texas people.

Track just draining your sloughs in the summer and letting natural vegetation do it's thing will improve it vastly. What kind of trees are in there? You may try to plant some willow/ water oaks at the waterline. They grow pretty quickly.

That kind of work is tough, changing nature isn't always easy. Did you get any agricultural agent feedback etc.?

Contact your county NRCS office and discuss with their wetland biologist. I am doing a wetland project on my place. They have allready been here and shot elevation, checked for material suitable for a levee, and flagged the boundary. Just waiting for dryer conditions to complete project. I am using pvc pipe in mine. They also sometimes have construction funds available to help with cost. Discuss that up front if you want funding.

Might also contact DU. They have been know to help on things like this.

I have contacted NRCS as well as TPWD regional biologists in the past on the same property and didn’t have the best experience. These smaller sloughs were outside of the previous scope, they have the potential to be completely flooded out/washed out and depositing a ton of silt/sand. Trying to enhance what is already there with minimal investment.

Trees are primarily elms and ash, not many oaks down in the bottom.

I’d open the canopy up a little bit and just dump a bunch of corn in there.

mr paul i think you would end up in jail for that

Perhaps john paul was saying that you might get some pigs in there to do your work for you? You still need to clear trees and you don't want to establish a routing for pigs. Regardless, dumping corn in it now isn't illegal that I know of since we are several months outside of season

I think john paul was joking about the corn.

oh not to funny to joke about corn someone might go to jail you never know