The Wandle Piscators

September 2009

Note: It’s been a pretty good month. The river is showing a small seasonal decline in olives & BWO but the numbers are still good. Three new monitors were certified by the Riverfly Partnership at a workshop in Godalming. We were awarded the John S Hills Memorial Award for establishing best practice in Riverfly Monitoring. The EA have released a report confirming that Thames Water’s treated sewage effluent discharge from the Beddington STW exceeds the maximum recommended threshold for Phosphate. The EA are now considering designating the River Wandle downstream of the sewage works a nutrient sensitive area and compelling Thames Water to install phosphate strippers at the sewage works.

August 2009

Note: Three new Riverfly monitors will be certified in September, bringing the number of qualified surveyors to 18. The number of BWO & Baetis nymphs is beginning to decline as most have hatched but we still have good numbers for the Wandle. Caseless caddis are beginning to reappear but they’re still very small.

Phosphate levels downstream of the Beddington Sewage Treatment Works are still in excess of 4mg/l (our phosphate test kit only measures up to 4mg/l). The EA’s maximum recommended Phosphate concentration for an urban chalk stream is 0.1mg/l …

July 2009

Note: The invertebrate numbers have peaked and the river is at its best. Dr Cyril Bennett and Peter Francis ran a superb Riverfly workshop for the existing monitoring teams at Morden Hall Park. Caseless caddis have virtually disappeared as the current generation have hatched and the next generation is either still in its egg or very very small.

If you are interested in joining our riverfly monitoring team or would like to help with our habitat improvement projects please email me at: riverfly@wandlepiscators.net

Will Tall