126.Clean Water

Isn’t it a shame that the things we care about in life are often not supported .In recent times there have been natural disasters all around the world including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and even more recently the great floods in Pakistan. A quick investigation at the UN website revealed that the major donor is the UK - with over $7m. to the latter cause. Notice the word donor-free of charge. We wonder what Pakistan has ever given us except for the heartache and bloodshed caused by them sheltering the murdering Taliban and as regards money…not a cent. Wouldn’t it have been good if some of this money went towards good causes such as The Thames Rivers Restoration Trust (TRRT) which is an independent charity dedicated to improving the river and its tributaries to benefit people and nature? TRRT was first established in 1986 as the Thames Salmon Trust, which successfully installed fish passes on the upper river and on the River Kennet. But a wider river basin approach is needed to restore the Thames system to full health. Many parts of the system still suffer from problems such as pollution, physical alteration and low water flows; causing loss of benefits to people and wildlife.

There is a plaque at Hurley commemorating the installation of a salmon ladder. A fish ladder, is a structure on or around artificial barriers (such as weirs and  locks  to help salmon  migration. Most salmon ladders enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps (hence the term ladder) into the waters on the other side.

“You’re an expert on water quality aren’t ya  Big Fella   “ asked the Captain as they were looking at the plaque, ”What do really think is going to happen to the salmon then?”.

“It’s the same old story time and time again” said the First Mate.”.”We get a lot of rain, the sewer systems can’t cope with it, and the net result is that all the filth and crap pours into the river from both factories and your own lav. In simple terms the drains are too small, fill up quickly and then  they spew out all sorts of nasties into the innocent watercourse wherever it may be. But I can tell you this, it is possible to clean up water and for it to hold salmon.I think that they did it somewhere up north like on the River Tyne. This river was a dirty, filthy river years ago and now it is a prolific salmon fishery. What’s more London is the real culprit and do you really think that salmon are going to enter the Thames at that point ?, no way, it would be a bit like putting your head down the bog  after someone has had a dump and then getting someone to pull the chain. No way mate is the Thames  ever gonna  be a salmon fishery until they invest millions into replacing the entire London Sewer system and that will happen when Hell freezes over ,Gaddafi gets the Nobel Peace prize and Nelson gets his eye back!”