The text below is a compilation of several Facebook posts plus some additional material by local historian Stephen Potter in response to numerous questions about the condition of the lakes and the River Ver in Verulamium Park, St Albans. There are also some links at the end that may be of interest (if you get that far). Compiled, edited, tweaked, converted and hosted on the web by Gary Broadbent.

As we are having the annual bashing of the Lakes, I thought it would be useful to show how the system works, or rather how it was intended to work when opened in 1932.

The lakes are fed by the River Ver through a sluice system and is then gravity fed to the lakes. The lakes are much lower than the river. There is a separate sluice for each lake. The pictures are of the small lake sluice system

This sluice has a restriction plate fitted, and this does not allow water to pass through during low river levels. This is very similar to the overflow slot in a bathroom basin. The sluice is at its maximum. If it were lowered further, it would be like pulling the plug on the river, and it would divert all the water into the Lake. Besides, taking water from the Ver is licensed by the Environment Agency, and the Council is not free to pinch it. The Ver is a very rare chalk stream and is today protected from what goes out and what goes in. Interestingly, the lakes were drained during the War. It was feared that on a moonlit night, the reflection on such an expanse of water would give its location away, surrounded as we were with RAF airfields.

However, back to the present. Low water levels in the river mean that the lake does not receive any fresh water from the river for months on end during the summer.

The northern and south eastern corners of the large lake are particularly susceptible to accumulating flotsam. This is because prevailing winds tend to push debris into that part of the lake. Coke cans and chocolate wrappers are regularly removed. Bird feathers are not, a fruitless task.

With the lakes being only 1 metre deep or less, and formed of concrete, they quickly warm up, further increasing the evaporation. This provides a limited habitat for the plant life that is needed to oxygenate the water and help remove nutrients. The lakes therefore suffer from low oxygen levels and high levels of nutrients. Oxygenating plants were planted, but they are limited in what they can do.

During the winter months, the small lake, which is even shallower than the main lake, can fill. It is easily walked across; only ankle deep at the edge and knee deep in the middle. When this fills, there is an overflow into the main lake at the bridge. Although the main lake is lower than the “boating” lake, it does not feed the main lake. It is only an overflow.

The Ver at this point is slow flowing and level, as it was straightened to form a level run to the Mill Race for the Abbey Mills, where the river then descends to its original level, either via the waterwheel or the rocky gradient. Thus, should the main lake ever over fill, it can, by gravity, go back into the river via a gate which, at the far end, is now lower than the lake.

The main loss of water during the Summer is by evaporation. It is a relatively easy matter to empty the small lake into the large lake. It is such a small amount of water that it hardly affects the level of the large lake. This was done in 2008 and all the silt removed and taken off site.

This cost £20,000 to do, and was contaminated by metal particulates and had to be professionally disposed of. Within a short number of years it had silted up again and is still silted. A fruitless task. The silt comes from the river and has been increasing its level of silt because of its straightness and slowness. Experimental work is being done further down the Ver to speed up the river in another straight stretch. This is done by slightly bumping out alternate sides with logs and vegetation to create a meander. This causes the water to travel further and increases its speed. The Ver through the Park however has an unnatural concrete edge on one side and it is not clear if this could be a partial solution. Besides, the mill leat is of historic importance and has to be retained.

In 2016, a JCB was used to start extracting silt from the lake in the corner near the causeway. Unfortunately, this was not overly successful and has not made a big impact. The actual removal of the silt from the lake was not a problem, the issue was that they simply could not remove enough material to make a difference using this method. In 2017, tons of silt was extracted by pumping and removed from site at a cost of £28,000.

So essentially it is a closed system apart from evaporation and rainfall. It was not designed for water to flow through it, only to be topped up by the river. Nor was it thought to become a bird sanctuary. Ducks however have taken to it like water so to speak. There have been pleas for people to stop feeding them, but to no avail.

There are a number of heavy engineering solutions, including dredging, filtration aeration and the like, all incredibly expensive, and moreover, extremely expensive to maintain and power. We are talking millions upfront and thousands ongoing. The Council is currently working in partnership with the Environment Agency (who has responsibility for the river) and Affinity water on an overall project that will see improvements made to the River Ver through St Albans, including the lake at Verulamium Park. A feasibility Study has been produced, and detailed designs are currently being prepared. There is a 650 page report if anyone wants to read it.

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/03d49c3c-ef71-40a0-68d6-01e5112c37fb/?file=River%20Ver%20Restoration%20St%20Albans_Final_29-3-19.pdf

A major study was done by Halcrow to determine what a long term solution could look like, and its components were further reviewed by Miles Waterscape Limited. The professional ideas put forward here are based on their reports. The situation has been thoroughly investigated and solutions proposed. The real issue is funding, which I will explain at the end, and not that no-one cares or knows what to do.

First, what is the scale of the problem? Ultimately of course the silt that is there will have to be removed from both lakes. But how much is there? It is estimated that there is about 7000 cubic metres of silt. Difficult to imagine. But think of it this way - over a thousand skips? 450 standard removal vans? A huge amount. Where could you put it? Well, spread over an average first class football pitch it would be 1.5 metres deep. When, and if this can be afforded, the silt would be dredged, extracted and moved. To minimise cost, moved as short a distance as possible, such as to the grass land between Westminster lodge running track and the river, covering a large area. But that cannot be done yet.

The lake is very shallow, approximately a maximum of 0.9 metres deep and has a concrete liner. From records, the engineers identified the soil type underneath to be porous, e.g. chalk, gravels, etc. Furthermore, there were signs of a thin PVC liner exposed on the surface on the outside of the concrete edge, however, in other areas the plastic did not appear to be present. It is thought likely that the concrete was used to cover and protect a liner of sorts. Once exposed, further remedial work would have to be done to the base, as it could conceivable be leaking and making the evaporation worse. If there is an upside to this, the fact that the base and sides are concrete will considerably ease the removal of the silt. Thus it is a colossal cost and requires Environmental Agency approval. It is not in the power of SADC. Indications are that they would agree to such a proposal.

Both lakes as we know have a broad concrete edging around their perimeter as well which provides a hard and unattractive edge to the water bodies. The concrete edge is in poor condition, much has moved out of line and some partially rotated. Consideration has been given to removing the edge, but for the main reasons of water retention and cost, the edge has so far been retained. Most likely it would be retained permanently, but could be softened with planting.

In my other piece, I explained that no more than 20m³ a day can be abstracted to flow through the lake, and the chance of increasing this flow is minimal. There are existing inlets and outlets which I have photographed. This system is already approved by the Environment Agency and need not be changed. It needs no pumps and gravity is free. One inlet may need modification, but I will come on to that.

The problem of the silt and poor quality water is the fault of the river and bird poo. The river perhaps we can do something about - the bird poo? The river first. The flow needs to be increased to move the silt continually downstream so that it slowly settles over a longer distance. Some effect may come from the meander of log and vegetation bump outs. The more radical solution is to re-route The Ver slightly to run in a straighter, shorter run, by-passing the mill pond altogether and therefore increasing the average fall. But it will rely on new edging being installed and creating a culvert to pass under the Causeway and a new bridge over it. Changes to the existing bridge would be needed and a separate channel to feed the mill pond through the top end of the lake would be needed to keep the mill wheel turning. This could be an open rill with bridging, or alternatively a supply could be piped the whole or part length of the path but, depending on final flow requirement through to the mill pond, the pipe would have to be of a large diameter and may not sit well in the landscape, but this too is a major undertaking and capital expense. It also has two knock on consequences. Firstly, the lake overflow would have to be re-built. It would, it has been proposed, feed into the box culvert that would be created for the re-route suggested. Secondly the Lake inlet would have to be re-engineered as the side flow sill would have to be lowered if the gradient is lower. So this work, or something like it, would have to be done before any attempt was made to de-silt the lake completely.

The birds, the dear old birds. They create a major problem regarding water quality not flow. If the water could be mechanically aerated then this would improve water quality it has therefore been suggested that once the river is sorted and once the lake is clean and free of silt, then, and only then, perhaps two fountains are installed. But you cannot please everyone. Three years ago, Chelmsford installed two fountains in their man-made Victorian lake dug which was out for railway embankments. The fountain replaced an underwater aeration system. The locals now say they have driven the wildlife away. You can’t win.

So it is untrue that no-one knows what to do. These original ideas from Miles Waterscapes were put forward as far back as the beginning of 2008. Guess what - the financial crisis hit, banking went into meltdown. The age of austerity hit, and to large extent is still with us. Local government was forced to cut. No money. The ideas, logical and good, had to be shelved, but they are now resurrected in the feasibility study which I linked to in my previous post.

But and it is a big but , identifying funding for the work – roughly £7m in total – is the challenge. As I type, officials are looking to secure a high level meeting with the Environment Agency (who should be the principal funders and have already paid for the major study into what's needed that I have referred to). This should have happened months ago, but is now scheduled for soon, so I am told.

Officials are also assembling a bid for funding which could be part of 2020/2021 district council budget. This proposes to divide the project into two phases: Firstly, Verulamium Park and the lakes, and secondly Holywell Hill to the allotments. The latter is the more controversial, and the phasing allows for further discussion and consultation.

WHO BUILT THE LAKES?

On lake discussion threads, comments sometimes appear stating that they were built by the Hunger Marchers, or it was forced labour and the unemployed were denied the dole if they did not work or they were housed in the workhouse. The truth is rather different.

THE LAND

In 1929, Earl Verulam agreed to sell 102 acres of freehold land including St Germain’s Farm. It extended from the riverside walk to King Harry Lane and included the Causeway, Verulam Hills Farm and the woods. It abutted an already donated strip of land given by Captain Gape of St Michaels Manor. The Council paid a very reasonable price of £6,500. The money loaned by Barclays. The intended uses were for “agricultural, open space, pleasure or recreation grounds, playing fields and excavations. There was no mention of a Lake at that stage.

UNEMPLOYMENT GRANTS COMMITTEE

This Committee was set up in 1920 in response to mass unemployment after the war. Its purpose was to assist local authorities with loan repayments for capital works. In 1928, more favourable terms were introduced for authorities willing to employ “transferred” Labour from depressed areas. Fair wages clauses were introduced and suitable accommodation should be provided. So, in 1930, an application to the Committee was made for the Lakes, sports ground and archaeological excavations which was to cost approximately £30,000, of which £20,000 would be labour costs. Loans were agreed provided that the development was considered non-revenue generating (plans for a tea room were thus abandoned and boats). The Committee suggested that 50% of the labour should be “transferred men” The Committee itself was wound up in 1932. As a side note, in the application, the large lake was described as a “Boating” lake and the smaller a “Paddling” Lake. But because of the restriction not to allow revenue generation, a boat house was never built and row boats were not allowed, but model boats were.

WHEELER EXCAVATIONS

This started at the end of 1930 employing on average 40 men for 4 months of which half were indeed transferred men. I should point out that the lakes are outside the Roman wall and not over Roman remains.

THE LAKES

Initially it had been estimated that 100 men on average would be needed for 20 months. In the end it took an average of 78 men 14 months. Total man months was 1092, of that 555 man months were from the transferees. There were, at the time, about 200 unemployed in St Albans, but the conditions for 50% from depressed areas was still complied with.

THE TRANSFERRED MEN

Records of where the men came from do not now exist, but it is said that they were from the North East or from Wales, maybe both, however, the Welsh theory seems most likely. The Foreman was named “Taffy” Green and the small railway trucks used to remove spoil were typical of welsh slate miners. The hunger marches and the later Jarrow crusade all happened after the Lakes were complete. The Employment was completed in November 1931.

These men were reported to have been accommodated at the Black Lion in Fishpool Street which, at the time, was a common lodging house with the overflow staying at the Goat. The City complied with all the conditions and the men were treated well.

Little did they know the problems that might arise later from such a shallow concrete "pond" and the flow of water would be much less.

WHERE IS THE LAKE WATER?

Pictures will continue to appear of low water levels and the current state of the Lakes. Elsewhere I have outlined what the problem is and what is being done about it. The focus is the River Ver, its flow, where it comes from, and the role of abstraction. This is not just our problem. It is a crisis with our rare chalk streams. A few weeks ago, the issue of the chalk streams was taken to Parliament, including St Albans' River Ver, one of 'greatest environmental scandals' of century

THE AQUIFER

In St Albans, we are part of the Affinity Central water area and our water comes from the Aquifer, a huge reservoir of water below the chalk. The aquifer rises and falls and its level underground creates what we know as the ground water level. Where the groundwater reaches the surface, this is the source of the chalk streams. It is rainwater that percolates through the ground that recharges the aquifer.

The normal recharge period is between late October/November and March/early April. This is when rainfall is most effective at replenishing the aquifer, resulting in a rise in groundwater levels. The chalk aquifer is where approximately 60% of our water for public supply comes from. Water is not taken from the river directly.

During the summer months when temperatures are higher and plants are using water, rainfall is less effective at recharging the aquifer. The exceptionally wet spring and early summer of 2012 did result in a rise in groundwater levels, but this was unprecedented. Affinity uses a number of Environment Agency monitoring boreholes across its supply area to assess the water resources situation.

CHALK STREAMS

Chalk streams such as the Ver are globally rare habitats, rich in biodiversity. There are only 200 of these chalk streams in the world, 85% of which are in England - but only 25% of those are intact and of good quality.

The upper reaches of a chalk stream are known as winterbournes, as they naturally dry out as groundwater levels decline. The Ver is one such winterbourne. When groundwater levels rise again, flow returns to this part of the river. The Ver sadly, since roman times, has been historically modified, e.g. straightened, deepened and widened, which makes their habitat less suitable. But, spare a thought for our sister chalk streams, which in some cases, are notably worse. Flows on the River Lee at Waterhall were exceptionally low, with the second lowest flow for July since records began in 1959. This was only surpassed by low flows in July 1976. The River Ash at Wareside also recorded exceptionally low flows, the third lowest for July since records began in 1982.

TODAY

Technically in our area, we have been in a drought zone since 2018, which is why the water level in the Lake is notably lower and the high level of silt from the river breaks the surface of a “pond” that is only 3 feet deep. So the Lakes are just a visible symptom of what is becoming a national tragedy of which we are just a small part.

THE RIVER - ABSTRACTION AND PUBLIC WATER USAGE

I want to focus in the next section on the role of abstraction and public water usage and its impact on the River Ver. In other posts I have demonstrated that solving the problems of the River Ver is the only sustainable solution to the silting up of the Lakes. To clear the silt and not address the river would cost in the region of £250,000. The little lake only was cleared 10 years ago and cost £20,000. The lake did silt up again, and the whole thing would have to be done every 10 years.

THE RIVER IS LOW IN SUMMER EVERY YEAR

The River Ver feeding the lakes rises and falls naturally because it is fed by winterbourne chalk streams. In winter, The Ver can flood, and the lake too (see picture). No water is abstracted from the river itself, but from the chalk below us - the aquifer. You cannot extract water from a river that does not have any - illegally or otherwise.

CHALK STREAMS

Chalk streams such as the Ver are commonly identified as winterbournes, and, as the name implies, they flow in the winter. They reflect the seasonal rise and fall of the water table within the chalk aquifer. Roughly speaking, the head of the river follows the elevation of the water level within the aquifer. The pattern is described as the winterbourne signature.

CHALK AQUIFER

Chalk is almost unique in that it is both heavily fractured and quite porous; in other words having properties associated with both Karstic limestone and porous sandstones. These twin characteristics mean that precipitation during winter months is able to reach the saturated zone within the rock within days, and is effectively stored. In the south of England, the chalk extends to as much as 400m thick, and the rise and fall of the water table within the aquifer can be tens of metres.

The annual pattern of recharge is not uniform as it depends heavily on the amount of rainfall within a winter period (summer rainfall doesn't count as it is almost all lost through evapotranspiration); so that in a dry winter, with little rainfall, the winterbournes will not progress much above their perennial head. The very dry winter of 2017/18 was an example of this; streams remained dry until late spring, when a couple of very wet months 'saved the day'. 2018/19 was worse, and this run of dry winters is unusual. At the start of April 2019, the aquifer, at -7.78m from the average, was as low as it has been since spring 2012, when a “Minister for Drought” was appointed and severe summer floods followed.

WATER EXTRACTION

The notion that upstream of the Lakes, Affinity Water is pumping out water from the river is of course untrue. The thought that all new housebuilding in St Albans is also taking water from The Ver misunderstands how water distribution actually works. The water in the aquifer is absolutely vast. By far the majority is sucked up and used by vegetation, plants, crops, trees etc. Our water supply is pumped from a variety of sources. In the past the closeness of pumping stations to the Ver has contributed a local effect.

FRIARS WASH PUMPING STATION

Following a successful campaign by the Ver Valley Society, the Friars Wash Pumping Station was put on standby in 1993, and this made a huge improvement to flows north of Redbourn. Flows in the Upper Ver are still intermittent, but have been a great deal more regular since 1993. The Ver Valley Society has worked closely with the Environment Agency (EA) and Affinity Water for over 20 years to assess the impact of abstractions on the Ver Valley. Affinity Water agreed that it would reduce abstractions from its catchment area by 42 million litres per day by 2020 and by 70 million litres per day by 2025.

BOW BRIDGE PUMPING STATION

As part of that commitment to reduce the amount of water it abstracts, in April of 2016, Affinity Water turned off Bow Bridge Pumping Station. This resulted in a saving of six million litres per day. Bow Bridge Pumping Station had been used since 1964. It was expected that halting these abstractions would benefit flows in the Ver chalk stream and surrounding environment. There was good reason to think this. Following the Buncefield Oil Depot disaster in December 2005, possible pollution of the water table meant that Bow Bridge Pumping Station was not used for nearly three years. Bow Bridge remained out of use from 2006 to August 2009, and this certainly helped maintain the flow in The Ver over the next few summers.

There is no doubt however that over-abstraction does have an impact. Abstraction licences were issued to publicly owned water authorities during the 1960s as a means of regulating the amount of water taken. The impact was keenly felt during the relatively cool, dry period between 1960 and 1990 in southern England.

Although abstraction has ceased altogether at Friars Wash and Bow Bridge, the river has still run dry. A number of licences contain conditions which require the water companies which inherited them to cease abstraction when river flows fall below a certain level. Like their predecessors, they are also required to provide compensation pumping - diverting some of the water they abstract into the watercourse.

Winterbournes are almost unique to southern England due to the raised topography in which they sit. They do dry up naturally, and their ecosystem is dependent on the fact that they do so.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The benefits of ceasing abstraction and seeking further reductions is welcomed, but sadly has been outweighed now by climate change An unusual run of dry winters and springs has meant the aquifer is not being fully recharged. The campaigning over many years for reductions in abstraction has had an effect, and the pressure must be maintained to ensure that the River Ver continues to flow and its very special ecology and wildlife are protected. Affinity Water have also committed to deliver river restoration and habitat enhancement projects on the Ver and six other chalk streams in partnership with the EA to restore them to a more natural state to encourage more wildlife. As explained above, a plan has been produced for The Ver and The Lakes

DOMESTIC USE

We have become a culture that wants to blame someone for conditions we do not like or nostalgically say it wasn't like that in my day. The local Facebook Groups abound with threads every year with homespun theories or ill informed attacks on anyone who hoves into view, in particular SADC, who are not responsible for the river, or for the abstraction.

Perhaps we should look to ourselves to see how we can help. By help I do not mean going down to the lake with a bucket and spade. (we would need 700,000 buckets and a pair of waders!) I mean how much water do we use? The average person wastes about 30 gallons a day without even thinking about it. We must look to ourselves and the water we waste. WE waste it by leaving the tap running when we clean our teeth or do the dishes. We flush too often. We run taps to clean fruit and vegetables when a pan will do. We use running hoses to clean cars rather than use a bucket. The motto in our family with the loo, especially at night is: if its brown flush it down, if it's yellow let it mellow!

I supported the Protest in the Park to seek to rebalance the obvious need for drinking water and the impact on the environment. The current situation however is as much Climate related if not more than abstraction. Therefore as much effort needs to go into water saving and correcting distribution leaks as reducing abstraction. As a start, Affinity Water has announced a hosepipe ban (at last) from spring of 2020.

In summary. The lakes look sad without water. We know. They will gradually get worse until the winter. Will more silt come in? Yes. Will it look worse next year? Pray for a wet winter and spring. As in all these things, it is not a lack of will but a lack of money for a long term solution. Anyone got a spare £7.5million?

Useful links

Project Plan on SADC website

Herts Advertiser Article - Regeneration plans for River Ver and Verulamium Lake revealed

The Ver Valley Society

The Ver Valley Society - May 2019 Newsletter (PDF File)

Book - The River Ver - A Meander Through Time

Affinity Water - River Ver Restoration Project

Affinity Water - Upper Gadebridge Park Restoration Project

Watford Council - Watford Borough Council plans to revive the River Colne