A pond near a Surrey gardens is at its lowest level for nearly two decades, a local wildlife charity has said.
The pond at Pond Farm on Wisley Common, adjacent to RHS Garden Wisley, has been drying up over recent weeks as the hot weather persists.
James Herd, director of reserves management at Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) where he has worked for 17 years, admits he has “never seen the pond so low” in that time.
“It is a very obvious visual indication of the scale of the drought,” he said.
The UK has experienced its fifth heatwave of the year, while meteorologists at Wisley not recording any rainfall for more than 50 days.
While the hot weather was predicted to cool over the weekend, its impact will remain.
There are “signs of struggle” among the plants and trees near the drying pond, Herd said.
“In some habitats, we are seeing trees with leaves coming off like autumn has set in… it’s a self-protective measure.”
His view is that measures need to be taken to prepare for long periods of dry weather, because this summer is “not a one-off”.
“Sceptical or not, the data shows that we are getting more extremes,” Herd said.
Pond Farm lays on lowland heathland, a rare habitat found on acidic and nutrient-poor soils.
Herd explained that there is a desire to hold more water on this type of land, particularly in preparation for the dry summer months.
One way of achieving this aim is to encourage the return of beavers.
“They will do the rewetting work for us… we should look to nature to help us cope better,” he said.
Last year, it was confirmed that SWT was considering a licence to release beavers into the county after they were hunted to extinction about 400 years ago.
This has yet to materialise, but Herd said positive conversations with Natural England are ongoing.
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