I was really saddened to see those before and after pictures of the river Gade in Cassiobury Park. I first fished there over 40 years ago and there used to be good flow with lots of roach, dace and chub, even a few carp. I can remember catching chub on minnows there.
I also used to fish the Gade at Croxley Moor, about 6 years ago I went back for a look and it was only half the width it used to be, I was really shocked.
They say, never go back, well 40+ years ago I was a member of Uxbridge Rovers AS and they had a truly superb bit of the river Colne at Denham called the middle meadow, I could hardly recognise it, hardly any flow and so low, tragic!
I realise that we have had very little rain so the rivers are down but over abstraction must be stopped.
It doesn't matter which party, I believe that virtually all politicians are either incompetent or corrupt. The water companies should be nationalised, water is more important than just a source of profit. Abstraction needs to be drastically reduced and reservoirs built. Is it true that most of the water companies are owned by foreign companies?
I moved away in 2013 to Hampshire. I fish the river Kennet a lot now, the river level is OK but the flow rate is down a bit.