I'm sure you're less than delighted to see the rain back again after a welcome respite, when the river level was once again back in the low 20s, and very clear with it. I guess they must have stopped pumping water in at Smallbridge, or maybe they were even extracting some (though I can't think why). Anyway it's back to a mucky over 40s level even today, and was much higher yesterday. Having visited Herpers then, and tested the water for the Angling Trust's WQMN scheme, I decided that the smart thing to do was visit the Reservoir instead of plumbing the river's murky depths with a squirmy. Plenty of water there too, but it was extremely clear, and with only a gentle wind and a lot of sun, it was a nice spot to be. Admittedly I didn't get so much as a bite, despite one or two rising fish (always too far from where I was), but I had a goood chance to practice casting, and a peaceful few hours. Don't forget the Reservoir.
On the subject of water quilality, you may have heard that the Anual Report of the aforesaid scheme was published recently, and here is a link for you to download it.
It doesn't tell a happy tale of course, especially for the Medway, but although we are in the Medway catchment, we do seem to have a far more positive set of results than almost anyone else. We don't therefore get a mention in the report, but you may be interested to read it, espcially if you frequent other rivers and waters around the country. The eagle-eyed may deduce that we appear as the little dot in the bottom right corner of some of the Medway catchment maps.
Just for the record, here are the results of the regular monthly testing which I carry out just below Harpers Footbridge. Note that the first couple of Phosphate results are incorrect as it took some time to work out how to use the testing kit correctly.
Rest assured we will follow up with the appropriate authorities if we start getting results of concern, and although you can report incidents directly to Souther Water or the EA, please let me know if you have evidence of pollution problems on our stretch.
Thanks
PeterB
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