Favourite pond seems destroyed

[briar rose]

I have no idea what has been going on, the pond I love to visit seems to have been destroyed, I expect it's down to the council or whoever looks after this area, they have done somethings to the river, like making sloping, shallower areas near the bank, but ever since they have done this the pond which is about 50 yards or less away is awful, it flooded over winter and is still flooded, the reeds haven't grown and the wildlife is basically none existent, the land is boggy and you can't walk around the pond anymore. The bank of the river also used to be left to grow wild until later in the year, but they even keep that cut down now, and I have seen loads of unusual insects and bugs along it, but not now

This is such a shame, I could go and sit by the pond and be kept occupied for hours by hundreds of Dragonflies and Damselflies there used to be many Moorhens and Coots swimming and nesting there, the odd Heron used to visit as well, it used to be teaming with Butterflies and day Moths and I used to regularly see tons of Spiders of varying descriptions, let alone what I didn't see, now it's just desolate, just the odd bird flying over, such a shame and I'm struggling to understand why this has happened.

[The Woodman]

It sounds a little like a FAS - a Flood Alleviation Scheme or a FSB - Flood Storage Basin creating larger areas which will accomodate large amounts of floodwater that may have been previously excluded due to older flood embankments designed to get volumes of water away quicker but constraining them by design.

The floods of the previous years have caused a change in practice in some areas.

Are there any signs like this one in the area?

[briar rose]

Hi, thanks for your reply no there are no signs like that anywhere around there.

It seems such a shame as a lot of the wildlife seems to have suffered because of it.

[The Woodman]

Of course, there may be an entirely different reason!

If, as you say, work has been done on the river bank the EA should be aware of it (or even done it). Give your local EA a ring and ask to speak to a flood defence team member or someone from the environmental appraisal team.

[briar rose]

Thanks for the advice I'll go over again on Tuesday and maybe get a couple of pictures (just in case) and get onto them

[The Woodman]

Be sure to let us know - I'm intrigued!

[briar rose]

I didn't manage to get over there until today, but there was a lot more wildlife around and the flooding has gone, it's still soggy in parts but no standing water, so I did manage to wonder around the pond, the small secluded area to the back seems fine, it's just the larger part that seems to have been affected the worse, but it was good to see the wildlife back again, albeit in much smaller numbers. I am just about to find out who in the EA to get in touch with

Here's some pics of what I've been on about.

The river and it's artificial raised bits, the one of the left of the pic has a concrete or cement base to it


How the lake should look.


How it looks.

[Brocakat]

It will take a couple of seasons to get back to something like its former glory.

Without going there, I 'd suggest that the ' Environment Agency ' (EA) - formerly the National Rivers Authority (NRA) will have done this work - and I 'd put money on The Woodman's' thoughts being right.

However, actual permanently-boggy areas - as opposed to being either always dry or always wet - - have their own ecosystems, annd are generally in decline - so if there is more of that than previous, it may end-up as a good thing for wildlife diversity.

Perhaps you could write to your local EA office & suggest thahey cut -down the vegetation in rotation, so there's a third just cut:a second part two years 'old' and
the last third 5 years old - that way the banksmen or whatever they are called now
alwys cuts something , but it never gets too mature to start Alders and Wilows growing where they perhaps shouldn't. Sure , they have their own associated wildlife, but also build up shade, which keeps a lot of wildlife away.

And if there's more but shallower water, that will support more aquatic life than a single deep area of water.

Please write to them - they employ their own conservationists & I'm sure they would
actually be helpful.