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Lakes, Ponds and Reservoirs Habitat Audit - page 1

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Definition, London’s Resource

Definition

Lakes, ponds and reservoirs include all areas of standing open water. Reservoirs, by definition, are artificially created water-bodies, some of which enclose a very large area of water. All of London’s lakes are also likely to be artifacts resulting from the damming of streams to create water features in parks and other formal landscapes, or as a consequence of mineral extraction (sand and gravel pits). Some of London’s ponds may have natural origins but most extant ‘natural’ ponds are likely to be former farm ponds or marl and clay pits. In more recent years many new ponds have been dug for aesthetic or nature conservation ponds in parks, gardens and amenity open spaces; many of these newer ponds have artificial liners as they do not naturally hold water.

London’s Lakes, Ponds and Reservoirs Resource

The total area of open water documented in the London Wildlife Habitat Survey 1984/85 is provided in Table 1. This figure is based mainly on the larger water-bodies (lakes and reservoirs) and excludes the majority of smaller ponds. Boroughs such as Enfield, Waltham Forest and Hillingdon have a particularly high proportion of standing open water because of the presence of large reservoirs (in Waltham Forest and Enfield) or extensive former gravel workings (in Hillingdon). The map provides a picture of the resource across the capital.

Table 1: Area of Standing Open Water in Greater London

Borough

Area of Standing Open Water (ha)

Percentage of Standing Open Water Resource in London (%)

City of London

0.5

-

City of Westminster

31

2

Barking & Dagenham

40

2

Barnet

47

2.5

Bexley

18

1

Brent

29

2

Bromley

45

2.5

Camden

16

1

Croydon

8

0.5

Ealing

6

0.5

Enfield

320

18

Greenwich

7

0.5

Hackney

20

1

Hammersmith & Fulham

1

-

Haringey

25

1.5

Harrow

16

1

Havering

110

6.5

Hillingdon

299

17

Hounslow

68

4

Islington

2

-

Kensington & Chelsea

0.5

-

Kingston upon Thames

5

-

Lambeth

1.5

-

Lewisham

4

-

Merton

20

1

Newham

100

6

Redbridge

45

2.5

Richmond upon Thames

130

7.5

Southwark

14

1

Sutton

12

1

Tower Hamlets

58

3.5

Waltham Forest

230

13

Wandsworth

16

1

London Total

1744

 

NB: The above figures exclude canals (but include docks) and have been amended to take account of changes in borough boundaries that occurred subsequent to the 1984/85 habitat survey.

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