During the past couple of weeks Thames Water have been busy working along stretches of the River Crane which are still contaminated with sewage following last year’s pollution incident. Current operations are on a large scale and involve the contaminated silt being sucked out of the river bed and margins and then being taken away to be disposed of safely.
The operation will help to increase river flow and improve biodiversity, especially in areas where the flow is particularly sluggish, such as at Crane Park Island Nature Reserve.
In addition to Thames Water’s work volunteers from the London Wildlife Trust and British Trust for Conservation Volunteers have continued to make habitat enhancements on the River Crane at Crane Park over the last few weeks.
Faggot bundles, gravel deflectors and aquatic plants have been added to the river to improve the flow and the bankside habitat for the local wildlife. Volunteers will continue to make improvements over the next year by continuing the bankside planting and removing bankside boarding.
