Evan Jones
2014-10-09 13:55:24 UTC
No worries. This is what the Environment agency drainage crew do every year
for more or less the whole of Pevensey Levels SSSI. The first sign of rain
in the autumn- sluices open fully. Water levels in many main dykes drop to
fatal levels for many fish. Inverts are exposed to drying, frosts etc. This
is possibly a significant factor in making this site astonishingly poor in
terms of winter birdlife compared to other places considering its size.
Winter levels in the ditches tend to be very much lower than end of summer
ones! A lot of ditches small and large are effectively drained to the
bottom.
All because it saves effort to do this. It is a scandal!
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for more or less the whole of Pevensey Levels SSSI. The first sign of rain
in the autumn- sluices open fully. Water levels in many main dykes drop to
fatal levels for many fish. Inverts are exposed to drying, frosts etc. This
is possibly a significant factor in making this site astonishingly poor in
terms of winter birdlife compared to other places considering its size.
Winter levels in the ditches tend to be very much lower than end of summer
ones! A lot of ditches small and large are effectively drained to the
bottom.
All because it saves effort to do this. It is a scandal!
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1. Major incident at Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham on
Monday 6 October 2014 (Neil Henry)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 09:28:04 +0100
From: Neil Henry <nhenry34 at yahoo.co.uk>
To: "adastra at lists.sxbrc.org.uk" <adastra at lists.sxbrc.org.uk>
Subject: [Adastra] Major incident at Warnham Local Nature Reserve,
Horsham on Monday 6 October 2014
<1412843284.72445.YahooMailNeo at web172702.mail.ir2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Hi all Adastrans
The ecological disaster at Warnham Millpond occurred when the millpond
sluice gate was opened (apparently prematurely), by Environment Agency
personnel, and could not be closed again. This resulted in the Millpond
being completely drained. Practically all the fish population and much of
the surface layer of silt was swept downstream towards the River Arun.
The ongoing works on the dam are being carried out by Bam Nuttall, as
contractors, to the order of the Environment Agency and Horsham District
Council. The contractor requested a 50cm drop in the water level to
facilitate their work.
Both EA and HDC have been conducting 'damage limitation' exercises, in the
media, stressing that there was no flooding danger to properties
downstream. After such a catastrophic fish kill event, the procedure is
apparently to count the corpses. In the first 200 yards from the
sluicegate, I have heard that over a thousand dead or dying fish, both
mature and fry, were counted. The casualties continued to be seen for the
next mile and a half to the confluence of Boldings Brook with the River
Arun and were 'too many to count'. A few fish were returned to the river,
but it is likely that they would be suffocated with silt and would not
survive.
The impact on the Nature Reserve is enormous: The effect is not only on
the fish: the entire food chain has been disrupted from the invertebrates
and micro-organisms in the silt to those that feed on them. Even if the
fish can eventually be re-stocked, there will be nothing for them to feed
on.
We will try to keep the group updated on developments, but at the moment,
we are completely devastated.
Neil Henry (Friends of Warnham Local Nature Reserve)
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1. Major incident at Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham on
Monday 6 October 2014 (Neil Henry)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 09:28:04 +0100
From: Neil Henry <nhenry34 at yahoo.co.uk>
To: "adastra at lists.sxbrc.org.uk" <adastra at lists.sxbrc.org.uk>
Subject: [Adastra] Major incident at Warnham Local Nature Reserve,
Horsham on Monday 6 October 2014
<1412843284.72445.YahooMailNeo at web172702.mail.ir2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Hi all Adastrans
The ecological disaster at Warnham Millpond occurred when the millpond
sluice gate was opened (apparently prematurely), by Environment Agency
personnel, and could not be closed again. This resulted in the Millpond
being completely drained. Practically all the fish population and much of
the surface layer of silt was swept downstream towards the River Arun.
The ongoing works on the dam are being carried out by Bam Nuttall, as
contractors, to the order of the Environment Agency and Horsham District
Council. The contractor requested a 50cm drop in the water level to
facilitate their work.
Both EA and HDC have been conducting 'damage limitation' exercises, in the
media, stressing that there was no flooding danger to properties
downstream. After such a catastrophic fish kill event, the procedure is
apparently to count the corpses. In the first 200 yards from the
sluicegate, I have heard that over a thousand dead or dying fish, both
mature and fry, were counted. The casualties continued to be seen for the
next mile and a half to the confluence of Boldings Brook with the River
Arun and were 'too many to count'. A few fish were returned to the river,
but it is likely that they would be suffocated with silt and would not
survive.
The impact on the Nature Reserve is enormous: The effect is not only on
the fish: the entire food chain has been disrupted from the invertebrates
and micro-organisms in the silt to those that feed on them. Even if the
fish can eventually be re-stocked, there will be nothing for them to feed
on.
We will try to keep the group updated on developments, but at the moment,
we are completely devastated.
Neil Henry (Friends of Warnham Local Nature Reserve)
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