Action has been taken after reports of hundreds of dead fish were seen floating in a Spalding waterway.
Several walkers who had spotted the fish floating in Vernatt’s Drain had reported the matter to the Environment Agency over the weekend, as well as posting pictures on the Facebook page Spotted: Spalding.
The Environment Agency said it had taken immediate action and after visiting the site had found that the deaths were as a result of low oxygen levels in the water – common at this time of year.
Keith Morgan, team leader at the Environment Agency, said: “Our officers attended immediately and identified that the problem was due to low oxygen levels in the water.
“This is a fairly common occurrence this time of year due to the hotter weather which can lead to low water flows, higher water temperatures, or extreme weather events – all of which can affect the oxygen levels in watercourses.
“People may notice dead fish surfacing and floating in the water as a result of this incident, but they needn’t be concerned – we’ve already used aeration pumps to help increase the amount of oxygen in the water back to where it should be, and this has now stabilised.
“We’d ask anyone who sees fish in distress to report it to our incident hotline by calling 0800 80 70 60 so we can investigate as soon as possible.”
