Thames renewal
Since the industrial revolution, a combination of industrial waste, agricultural run-off, river engineering and the release of raw sewage into the Thames has severely depleted fish stocks, removing a valuable food source for human and wildlife populations, and by the 1950s the London stretch of the river was declared biologically dead. Tighter regulations since the mid- 1970s have improved water quality, and the Thames has been slowly transformed into a thriving ecosystem. Viable shellfisheries now flourish in the Thames Estuary, while sea trout and otter populations have returned from the brink of extinction.
The Environment Agency, Defra, Natural England and local partners have established numerous schemes to improve water quality, restore rivers and wetlands and reduce the risks of flooding. This iconic clean-up and these innovative projects, securing further improvement for the future, were instrumental in the Thames being awarded the 2010 Thiess International Riverprize.
Read more:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk
Seeds of change
Punch cartoon from 1858, the time of the “Great Stink”
Atlantic salmon tagged prior to re-release into the Thames © Nigel Reader & Peter Gough/Environment Agency
