Appeal launched to stop ponds from running dry

A CONSERVATION group in Woodcote has launched an appeal to raise £40,000 to restore a pond which has been losing water.

Greenmore Ponds, which are situated at one of the highest points in the Chilterns, have been part of the local landscape for more than 1,000 years.

Across a period of six weeks between May and June 2023, the lower pond lost all of its water. It partially recharged by the winter but went dry again by the end of August last year.

Woodcote Parish Council, which owns the ponds, instructed the Woodcote Conservation Group to begin restoration work of the ponds about 15 months ago.

Four boreholes of about 3m deep were dug by a hydrologist in December 2023 to monitor the groundwater level for a year.

Results have confirmed that the pond’s clay lining had been breached, causing water accumulating in the pond to drain into deeper parts of the ground.

James Godfrey, a geologist who sits on the group, told a public meeting at the village hall why the pond could be losing its water. He said: “What we think probably happened is that in the early Thirties this pond was dug a bit deeper and a bit wider and, when they did that, it went slightly further into the clay layer underneath it.

“Because there’s not a lot of clay left before it goes straight into the chalk, we think that a tree root or a bit of ground movement has opened up a fissure or a fault within the clay layer underneath, allowing the pond to drain into the chalk.”

The ponds are home to wildlife including toads, frogs and newts which migrate to breed every year and about nine species of bat also breed among the treetops. Two varieties live there which are considered at risk of extinction.

Mr Godfrey said: “The pond doesn't create a great environment for wildlife because it is quite nutrient-rich and it can lead to eutrophication events where there are too many nutrients in there.

“If we get warmer winters and lots of sunlight in there, we can get a depletion of oxygen, which happened in the past, causing a die-off of invertebrates in there.”

Mr Godfrey said that the success of this project would help to safeguard the future of the pond for the benefit of residents and wildlife.

He added: “We’re hopeful it will future-proof it for a good number of years and we can maintain the ecosystem and the important village asset that we've got there for a number of years to come and safeguard it for future.”

The group plans to restore the pond by dredging silt, leaves, dirt and branches, which have accumulated at the bottom for more than five decades, to help improve the biodiversity. It will then be filled with clay to fix any holes which could be causing the leak.

Tree work will take place ahead of spawning season this month to improve the access to the site so big plant machinery can remove the silt once the weather improves.

The silt will be removed and placed in adjacent land, following approval from Thames Water, to reduce the cost of the project.

Liam Woolley, chairman of the conservation group, said: “We contacted Thames Water because getting rid of this amount of silt off-site and paying somebody to take it off our hands would be phenomenally expensive and probably make us question the viability of this.

“From a project point of view, it takes away one really big headache. So that’s another big tick in the box.”

To help cover the cost of the project, the group has applied for a grant from the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment.

Mr Woolley added: “We’re hopeful that we will get a sizeable grant from the trust to help us with this project.

“We’ve now got to the stage where we've got to get the initial tree work done before the nesting period and the spawning period.

“If we can raise the funds between now and early summer, we are then in a position to instruct a contractor to proceed with the works because, if we get a dry summer, then we'll have a reasonable window for the work to be completed.

“If we have a wet summer, it’s even possible that they won't be able to get on the site and extract the silt.”