RIVER THAMES

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, behind the River Severn.

While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Henley-onThames, Windsor, Kingston upon Thames, and Richmond.

Bridges across the Thames are used in a functional sense, to get from one bank to the other, not to stroll across, not to rest, not to have fun- only to walk across. Also, it is almost as if the buildings have made it difficult to get to it. Yet the river created the city. Look at the plan of London through the ages. What is it that has remained constant throughout? The river Thames. Statistically, the Thames does not feature in even the top 50 of the worlds rivers. For example, the Nile is a spectacular 4160 miles long. But in terms of history, our river is one of the greatest in the world. The waters have been subjected to two periods of gross pollution- firstly in the 1850s and then again in the 1950s. The story of how the river was brought back from pollution to sustainability is a remarkable one.. The Great Stink But the water problem persisted despite these building visions for the Thames. In 1858, the river or the Great Stink as it was called was so bad that the sittings at the House of Commons had to be abandoned. By the middle of 19th Century, the rise in sewage carried into the Thames via the Fleet river killed off all the fish, and consequently all the birds that lived off them.

It is said that the work connected with laundries surpassed prostitution in Victorian London and all this waste and toxic water passed into the river. In mid-19th century London, out of the 70,000 houses in the city, 17,000 had their own wells, while the rest relied on standpipes- one for every 20 to 30 houses- which supplied water for one hour only, three days a week. Few houses had bathrooms and even when Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace, she found no bathrooms. Indeed, as late as 1908, Downing Street had no bathrooms. Public bathhouses were popular. A series of cholera outbreaks in the 1840s and 1850s paved the way for a system of sewers built. The first filtration plant for the Thames was built in 1869. But by the 20th century, it gradually deteriorated again and by the 1950s, it was little more than an open sewer, containing no oxygen. The production of hydrogen sulphide gave off the smell of rotten eggs. The problem was further aggravated by fluctuating tides as it can take up to 80 days for water to be flushed out to the sea in periods of low rainfall.

Three criteria for improvement were established. Firstly, that the water must sustain fish at all stages of tides. Secondly, it must support fauna on the mud bottom and

thirdly, all toxic and non-biodegradable waste must be excluded from the river.
In 1964, work on greatly enlarged sewage works was started and completed in 1974. The results have been spectacular with the stretches of river up to 30 miles devoid of fish from 1920 to 1964 now supporting aquatic life. It attracts more than 10,000 birds during wintering times. Salmon, trout and even seals have been found in the river. IMPORTANCE OF ThAMES Any change in the Earth's climate would have a devastating effect on London. It has been estimated that average temperatures will rise by between 1and 6 by 2010 and there will be more floods and subsidence in the South East, so London may be submerged by 2100 if we do not do anything. So the importance of Thames for London is immense as it is for the rest of the world

TRRT

TRRT is a charity dedicated to improving the river and its tributaries to benefit people and nature. TRRT take an overview of the whole of the Thames and its tributaries, as a river basin approach is needed to restore the system to full health. Work in co-operation with the many groups active in the area, including Thames 21, The Wandle Trust, and Thames Estuary Partnership among others. TRRT is in a unique position on the doorstep of national decision makers in Parliament, government and the City of London.

Our activities are very visible to those decision makers and can help persuade them to improve rivers nationwide.
Many parts of the Thames system still suffer from problems such as pollution, physical alteration, low water flows and loss of wildlife habitat; which reduce the quality of life for people. There are national and local government agencies working to improve the Thames system; but their legal duties as regulators do not always allow them to take a lead in restoration works. The Trust helps government agencies, local authorities, NGOs, anglers, recreational users, riparian landowners and communities work together more effectively

Our aims for the River Thames and its tributaries include: Significant stretches restored to a natural structure, to enable functioning natural processes and sustainable ecosystems As natural a flow regime as possible, for ecosystem health, continuation of biological processes and a sustainable supply of water for human use Being as free of pollution as possible, so as to meet water quality standards All of the typical habitats of the river and its associated wetlands are restored in places so as to support sustainable populations of native species including fish Flood management includes natural processes where possible, including storage in floodplain wetlands and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems Disadvantaged groups such as young people from deprived areas and the less able having better access to rivers for quiet recreation and angling Every river in Thames basin having some high quality stretches accessible to the public for the purpose of quiet enjoyment

TRRT helps restore the Thames and its tributaries through a five point strategy: Policy work - lobbying national government to improve legislation and funding for river restoration, sustainable water management and restoring wildlife Planning helping produce the Thames River Basin Management Plan, London Rivers Action Plan and Thames Water Resources Plan Practical projects setting up projects to demonstrate how to improve rivers for people and nature, cost effectively and adapting to climate change Promotion including education and awareness raising of the public, through our website, newsletters, events and activities People - involving them in solutions through volunteering, supporting the trust or in helping to shape plans and projects