Late last month, 4,000 litres of diesel poured into London’s River Wandle. But while the true extent of the damage is not yet known, hopes of a brighter future for the chalk stream have emerged from the catastrophe.
News of the spill sparked anger and upset across the nation, particularly as the river has been the subject of huge restoration efforts in recent decades. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the Wandle was severely polluted and was, for many years, said to be ecologically dead.
But, in recent times, impressive work has been undertaken by local organisations, along with countless volunteers, to bring it back to good health. In its clear waters, barbel, chub, trout and many more
species thrived, despite facing a host of ecological – and physical – obstacles, ranging from road run-off to discarded shopping trolleys. But, despite their resilience, the resident stocks of the Wandle were once again pushed to the brink when the diesel spill, believed to have come from a storage tank at a bus depot in Thornton Heath, Croydon, surged downstream.
Unknown impact
Images of waterfowl, covered in diesel, and the carcasses of chub and eels hit the national news, causing uproar among the public.
“Anglers were the first people to contact us – they’re always a key early warning system,” Dr Jack Hogan, South East Rivers Trust (SERT) Catchment Officer, told Angling Times.
“On the scene, the smell of diesel was horrific, eye-burningly so.”
Jack’s a passionate fly angler himself, and grew up fishing on the river. He remembers the horrific pollution incident the waterway suffered back in 2007, resulting in a near-total wipe-out of its fish stocks.
“The fish kill this time was not immediately on the scale of that of 2007, but this level of contamination is going to raise the basic level of toxicity in the river,” Jack explained.
“We’re currently working to find out the deeper impact of the pollution, with water and sediment sampling taking place. Already, we’re seeing higher than expected invertebrate mortality, as
well as unusual behaviour in them, which is most likely a sign of distress.”
Public anger
SERT has played a pivotal role in the restoration and conservation on the chalk stream over the last 25 years, with local communities engaging in river stewardship throughout that time.
“People are tired of seeing this river polluted,” Jack added.
“It suffers death by a thousand cuts – its ecology hammered by outfalls, road run-off, and more.”
After news of the incident broke, SERT launched a crowd funding drive to raise money for urgent pollution tracking and river restoration efforts and, at the time of writing, an astonishing £25,000 had
already been raised.
“It’s ironic that it takes situations like this to galvanise those on the river and the wider public to enable
us to push forward with change, but that’s what we’ll do,” Jack said.
“Generally, people are much more aware of rivers these days, following the rise in popularity of activities like wild swimming. The public are massively involved in volunteering on the river, as are anglers, who are realising that for good fishing, they need to engage with conservation. They are extremely passionate, and know the river intimately.”
Just as this story was going to press, it was revealed that the Liberal Democrats had secured a debate in
Parliament in which questions will be asked about exactly what happened to cause this latest pollution incident, and the response time of the authorities to the spillage.
Long term protection
With the support of the crowd funder, SERT aims to build real resilience in the Wandle, and is already deploying new devices that are known as ‘pollution sentinels’. Developed by Jack alongside King ’s College London’s Department of Geography, these high-precision water monitoring sensors will allow them to track real-time information on the state of the river and respond quickly to any issues.
They’ll not only alert SERT to any changes in the river, but will also build up a picture of where pollution comes from, and how it moves through the system.
“We’ve just installed the first of these, and have more to come,” Jack revealed.
“In addition, we hope to add sensors to sewage outfalls so we can pick up incoming pollution. We can then attempt to find its source and mitigate its threat.”
As a result, Jack hopes that in the years following the fallout of this spill, the Wandle will benefit.
“We don’t want the river back to where it was before the spill – we want it to be better,” Jack added resolutely.
“Last year, Angling Times reported a salmon that was caught in the river. It was as thin as a rake, which indicated that it had spawned. It’s not a mad dream that we could one day see migratory salmonids in the Wandle again."
“As we’re entirely project- funded, the more that goes into the crowd funder, the more we can do to make that wish a reality.”
To donate towards the important recovery work of SERT on the Wandle, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-river-wandle- after-diesel-spill
