Tuesday 27 March 2012

River Witham Weed Update 2012

Between Stamp End Lock and Boston lock Tuesday 27 March 2012 until further notice

Following the unprecedented volumes of channel weed on the River Witham last year and to some extent on our other navigations, we have prepared a detailed weed management plan for 2012.

The main aspects of this plan are:

• To hire a weed harvester from early April for a minimum of 6 months to work solely on the River Witham. (The original plan was for a start on May 1st but recent reports have suggested we need to start sooner)

• To install booms (subject to EA approval) across water courses entering the River Witham, thus holding the weed in specific locations making removal easier.

• We have renegotiated our contract for weed cutting on the Chesterfield Canal to provide a better and more flexible service.

A particularly dry 2011 followed by a dry and mild winter has meant that water flows are still low and we envisage the weed will again be a problem through 2012.

We will do everything within our resources to tackle the weed, but we wanted to make you aware that you may experience some difficulties through 2012 in our area and apologise in advance for this. We would also ask you to inform us of weed sightings by emailing enquiries.emidlands@britishwaterways.co.uk and using the subject heading WEED WATCH.

Please provide specific information on location by referring to bridge numbers and mooring locations wherever possible. This information will allow us to focus our efforts appropriately. Thank you for assistance and understanding on this matter.

Enquiries: Newark – 01636 704481

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