Basically all you are doing is catching any surface water running down the hill and any water that has permeated the soil, down to the base of your trench and channeling it down to your pond. Once you have the tiles in place, there is virtually no maintenace, though it helps to keep vegetation from growing to close to your tile to keep roots from absorbing water or clogging it. A few quick passes with a weedwacker helps with that.

It's somewhat similar to building a spring head. The main difference is you're collecting surface runoff and shallow water.

Keith

I might put a layer of sand instead of black dirt over the liner. I think dry mud is what leads to blue tongue concerns. I would think sand could ~avoid that issue