Eel-y good news for the River Nene

Anglian Water’s @one Alliance is investing £2m installing brand new eel screens at its site in Duston as part of works designed to make a difference to protecting the environment and its habitants.

The European eel is classed as a critically endangered species after a 95% decline in population over the last 25 years.

One of the reasons why the eel population is thought to have declined so rapidly in recent years is because structures in our rivers such as weirs, locks and other machinery which prevents the species from completing their migration cycle in order to reproduce.

As part of Anglian Water’s Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), the scheme is a £2m investment into new eel screens to be installed at its water abstraction site in Duston.

The new screens will stop eels from the River Nene from entering the abstraction intake, and the size of the mesh on these screens also means it will protect fish and other organisms from entering the machinery as well. The work is expected to be completed in autumn 2024.

Regan Harris, spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “We rely on a healthy environment for the billion litres of water we supply to customers in our region, so it’s only right that we do everything we can to protect it.

“Schemes like this are vitally important so that we can continue to encourage the growth and natural migration of endangered species like the European eels throughout our region and beyond.”

The work will be taking place on site at Duston which means there will be minimal disruption locally. There will be some vehicle movement parallel to public footpaths surrounding the site, so the company is asking members of the public to stay alert when walking near the site.