Well, I accidentally drowned two dwarves (A child and a woodcutter) while trying to remove the wooden walls I already had built around the aquifer level to prepare for the drop-sleeve I'm trying to make.
My new team came in... I've been struggling to find enough idle hands to get the work done... not sure if I should convert the trees I'm cutting into more efficient blocks, or just keep clearcutting the jungle I've embarked in for mass wood. I need to figure out the cloth industry, so I can make more bags for sand for glass to create my aquifer drop-sleeve (... I hope it works).
I'm going to see if dropping auto-deconstructing wooden wall sleeves down the aquifer will function as a "hammer" that clears out entire Z-levels of aquifer... assuming my drop-sleeve will eventually work.
Toady REALLY needs to fix the child immigration issue... I wouldn't mind so much if the immigrants occassionally brough their children or maybe a younger sibling with them... but I just recieved nine migrants - Two adults, and seven completely-unrelated children.
I did notice that kids will deconstruct things. Since my fort is having a MASSIVE overeating/drinking issue, and not enough workers to keep the food and drink coming in, I may learn how to use burrows, put all adults on adult-only tasks well away from the aquifer, and send the kids down into the drowning pit to deconstruct the walls.
Either the damn walls will be deconstructed and my sleeve will have a clear shot and survivors will be useful swimmers, or I'll remove the completely-useless 50% of my population, which should likewise delay serious threats to my fort's security. And maybe get rid of SOME of the damn walls.
I hope this cave-in sleeve idea works.