Nature lovers are reportedly taking matters into their own hands by moving fish and building dams in a bid to save wildlife amid fears a stretch of canal could dry up completely in the hot weather.
Water levels have plunged at the Sankey Canal at Spike Island in Widnes since May after a pump at Fiddler’s Ferry power station, that had kept it supplied, was switched off. This followed the decommissioning of the coal-fired plant in 2020.
Michael Heaton, 62, of Penketh, branded the situation “dire” and told the ECHO pike have been found dead in the area and only two of four cygnets born on June 1 to a pair of swans at Spike Island have survived, with residents fearing the deaths are due to dwindling amounts of fresh water.
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Mr Heaton said moorhens are ending up trapped in the mud. Boats are also “marooned”, and pictures have been published on social media showing levels particularly low near Carter House Bridge towards Penketh, with one Facebook user branding picture of swans standing on exposed earth works “some of the saddest pictures I have seen for a while”.
There are fears animals are already suffering with worse to come as higher temperatures accelerate the drying of the canal bed.
Another risk, he said, is an imminent high Mersey tide expected to bring a flood of saltwater, that will spell death for freshwater wildlife.
Halton Borough Council has said it is “committed to the Sankey Canal”, but faced “no straightforward solution” and had initiated tests to confirm fish were healthy enough to be moved to other watercourses.
Mr Heaton said council workers were deployed to the area when the “TV crews were down” but “they’ve just disappeared”.
He said desperate residents have taken matters into their own hands, creating dams to save water, pumping in oxygen and netting fish to deposit them in Spike Island’s square pond because of the “dire” situation.
He said: “There’s a lot of volunteers transferring fish from the canal to the square pond at Spike Island .
“They’re oxygenating the water with pumps and rescuing the fish. This is from the Sankey Canal, doing it themselves - netting them and putting them in the square pond. There’s even a lad who’s paid £200 out of his own pocket so they can get out.
“He’s sent a sample of water so they can source water from a stream somewhere near Runcorn (Mersey Gateway) bridge, and he’s paid for it out of his own pocket. The situation’s absolutely dire.
“Now God knows what it’s going to be like with the dry weather. Nothing’s changed.”
He continued: “People are doing their own things. They’ve built two dams, they were absolutely disgusted.”
Mr Heaton said: “It’s absolutely disgraceful that members of the public are having to do this when Halton council are responsible.
“They could get stuck in the mud. It’s quite scary to be honest.”
The council has has previously said the canal had been derelict on the Widnes stretch for around 40 years until being brought back into use in the early 1980s.
Sections of the canal had been filled in to the north, meaning a freshwater supply was needed, and Fiddler’s Ferry provided this until it was shut down, and any solution to the problem will “take time”.
In an updated statement issued on Tuesday, a council spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the loss of a number of cygnets. The birds are not nesting in the canal and we are unable to attribute the reasons for the loss.
"Council officers monitor the canal every day and we have not seen any dead pike or other animals. The high tide is this week and we have had two officers monitoring the river and lock gates each day at the time of the daytime high tide.
"This will continue throughout this week on the days when further high tides are expected. Individuals should not be taking fish from the canal to the square pond.
"This activity requires a licence and anyone doing so without a licence is acting illegally.
"Officers have advised individuals on Spike Island of this. The welfare of the fish has always been one of our priorities and that is why we arranged a fish rescue exercise that commenced on May 12 and remains ongoing.
"To date, more than 8,000 fish have been safely relocated to an alternative water body.
"This week, the fish rescue exercise will continue on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
"Individuals should not be entering the canal and building dams, or carrying out any other work, and we would advise members of the public that they must not do this."
Asked whether there was any official oversight of the handling of the situation. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) told the ECHO there were no signs of fish in distress as of June 8 but residents should report any sightings.
A Defra spokeswoman said: “We are working closely with the contractors who are doing the fish rescue work at Sankey Canal, led by Halton council, and are monitoring the situation.
“Our officers have conducted site visits while the fish rescue work has taken place and provided advice on the removal of the fish, their transportation and suitable relocation sites.
“We understand the concerns around fish welfare and other wildlife in the watercourse. While there are currently no signs of fish being directly in distress, should the circumstances change, the Environment Agency will look to respond quickly and appropriately.
“If members of the public notice fish in distress, we would encourage them to report this to our 24/7 incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”
