The City of Flagstaff has begun dredging the Frances Short Pond to remove sediment from post-wildfire flooding.
Crews will drain and dry the pond and then eventually refill it with reclaimed water and spring runoff.
The project is expected to take six months and the pond is set to reopen in late spring or early summer.
Officials ask the public to avoid the area when dredging is taking place.
Last summer, large amounts of sediment, ash and debris flowed into the pond, killing all of its fish, following the Pipeline Fire which burned 26,000 acres and several watersheds on the San Francisco Peaks.
Officials hope the dredging will improve the pond’s ecosystem and increase its capacity for future flood runoff.
Fish will be restocked after post-fire flows produce a lower concentration of ash and debris.