Wildlife Circus

  Docks along the Mersey    My friend Marg has sent the letter below to her M.P. and whilst it it refers to the River Mersey, the names within our river catchment could just as easily be substituted (Thames, Hogsmill, Wandle, Queens Promenade, Teddington Lock etc.). Lack of preparation and rising water levels in the Thames, are becoming an increasingly urgent concern, yet preparation has lagged behind the pace of change. More frequent and intense rainfall, higher tides, and climate-driven sea-level rise are putting additional pressure on aging flood-defence systems.  “From 2035, sea level rise and changes to the Thames Barrier operation will result in higher water levels in the River Thames. In areas between Richmond and Sunbury, these increases could range from over one metre to as little as a few centimetres during frequent flood events that we expect to see most winters. Sea level rise will progressively increase flood levels in West London throughout the rest of ...

Number to ring in the case of pollution Rag or sewage around  trees  The following item will be of most interest to pollution volunteers or PAV's, those who volunteer along the Hogsmill river - either collecting the rubbish, monitoring water quality and the amount of 'rag' at misconnected outfalls - and to some of you that may be considering any of these activities in the future (see previous posts and side tabs on the Hogsmill). During the early hours of 8.2.16, there was a major sewage spill onto Green Lane recreation ground some of which ended up in the Hogsmill river Grid Reference TQ 20062 67989. This was covered during a February posting hogsmill-sewage-spill and in the Surrey Comet.“What appears to have happened is that a power failure at our Hogsmill treatment works, in the early hours of 8th February, put the inlet pumping station out of action. This, combined with a burst of very heavy rain earlier that night, caused incoming flows to back up and di...