problems with the EA

[fishboy]

StuMac and Lid. I am one of the fishing clubs fisheries manage team and only visited the site because a club member told me that the fishery had been drained without me being told. I went there with my camera to get some photos in case the club wished the claim compensation for loss of fishing. At the time I was not aware the fish were in the stream, I assumed that everything had been above board and that I had not got the message from the council. When I saw all the fish I rang the club chairman to find out if the council had contacted him, he rang the rest of the other club officials. No one had been told of any work planned for that lake.

When I found the fish it was 5pm on Tuesday, by 5.30pm 8 members of the club were up to there knees in silt scooping up as many fish as they can before it got dark.

The lake had been flushed buy laying a 24" drain from the outlet stream to a manhole behind the dam wall, then the dam wall was breached using a digger so the water went down the manhole into the pipe and into the stream. When the flow had stopped a channel was dug so that the rest of the water could be emptied into the manhole.

[frodo_uk]

The question that arises to me also is "why" anyone would wish to do this??

Also "into a ""manhole"".

So the assumtion is that all the fish also went into the manhole and into the drain/sewage system?.

but the whole dreadful story is a little confusing and more light needs to be shed on it.

what happened after have they drained the lake ? did they refill it? if not why not?

[Bradford Angler]

Fishboy . . sympathies for your losses . . however please can you give more details . . especially why this practice was undertaken .

 

think I am missing something very obvious from here . . anymore details greatly received . .

[fishboy]

The reason we have been given for the draining of the lake is that the council engineer thinks that the dam had sprung a leak, as there are houses below the dam they could not risk the dam wall giving way. It was therefore necessary for the water to be drained ASAP. I have asked to see the engineers report and the council rep has promised to do what he can.

 

The lake is still empty but the council has promised to allow a small puddle to remain at its lowest point. At the moment there is puddle around 20'x 40' and around 8" deep. This is mainly for the red-eared terrapins, which were resident at the lake but may have been flushed together with the crays and the fish.

The lake will stay empty (apart from the puddle) until the engineers have finished their report and the leak found and fixed.

 

The volunteers who have been netting the fish over the last 4 days have now given up, they estimate that they have saved 90% of the fish in the stream but we don’t know how many fish were lost down the drain.

 

We will have to wait until the middle of may before our next council meeting where the EA and the council engineers will be giving there reports.