World class Thames

Only because we were made to ?

Is this the time to mention that many(all ?) of the improvements ie. money spent was as a direct result of us being "forced " by the EU to clean up our act.
Our previous wilful long term neglect of our rivers,streams and beaches using them as a convenient(ie cheap) places to dump human sewage,industrial waste and allowing farm fertilizer run off was destroying a wonderful natural asset.
The last effort to care was probably when Bazalgette was around.
 
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Little money was spent post Bazalgette because he built so well and with so much redundant capacity. Its like quite a lot of the rest of the Victorian infrastructure, they made if with safety facotrs way beyond the ones demanded by more modern accountants and thus their stuff lasted so long we got out of the habit of having to spend money on repairs. Just imagine if Brunel had built the M1, or better yet, the M25. 8 lanes each way, clockwise running abover counter clockwise on stilts!
 
sarabande said:
so if the Thames is now so good, why has the eel population dropped by 98% in 5 years ?

It can't be all my colleagues on the Somerset Levels surely ?
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That sounds alarming, however we do have problem around Oxford with our East European friends eating everything they catch, they don't understand why British fishermen sit by the riverbank all day then throw their catch back in.... actualy neither do I they always look so miserable:D
 
Chris_d said:
That sounds alarming, however we do have problem around Oxford with our East European friends eating everything they catch, they don't understand why British fishermen sit by the riverbank all day then throw their catch back in.... actualy neither do I they always look so miserable:D
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Perhaps you could encourage them to develop a taste for Canadian Geese? :D
 
From what i can gather those few elvers which did return simply could not get to the head waters,due to the number of insurmountable concrete barriers put in their way.
Thought I read somewhere that the amount of **** in the water was masking the few molycules :) which would identify the homewaters of the fish and prevent it finding its way home.?
How ever The Medway has now had considerable amounts of money spent on the installation of fish passes and other aids to get the eels/trout/salmon upriver.Plus the cleaning up of the enviroment in general.
As a lad can remember large quanties of elvers attempting to climb over the sluice gates at Yalding,they vanished over twenty years or so but are returning.
The lower Medway is also vastly improved due to our finally cleaning up our act.
Ps.Just out of interest my local rag is reporting sort nice cod(ling) being pulled out at Gravesend
 
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