Maybe this is why the old ponds around here stay clear. I happened to have worked his pond site, so I know that in North-Central Texas, muddy water is more the norm than the exception. To solve this dilemma, we need to understand water chemistry. Water, the universal solvent, dissolves everything it can. Simply put, if water dissolves minerals, H20 stays clear.
Minerals have electrical charges attached to their smallest components, called ions.
Positively charged ions are called cations, negatively charged are anions. There can be no more positively charged ions than negatively charged ones. But, some minerals will dissolve into water and leave water in an unbalanced state. Nature tries to adjust to the imbalance. To get rid of the dirt, pond managers must replace it with the properly charged mineral.