the main reasons (official) for removing the weir, is to return the Teme to its natural state (?) and create a river of pools, riffles and shallows, they say it will help develop a new spawning site for the Shad as there are only a handful in the country, the downside of this is that it will reduce the level above the weir by 1.5 mtrs many miles upstream and in times of drought will create a river of stagnant pools, connected by shallow riffles, just as the upper Teme suffers every summer and the EA will have to rescue 1000's of fish, their summerised impact study's, have confirmed that the effects will be considerable on the coarse fisheries above Powick weir and will cause initial severe bank erosion, all fish stocks will become even more vulnerable to predators, the Teme to me will become (as the years go by) none viable as a coarse fishery, its planned to remove the whole of the weir and the surrounding concrete structures, the "no's" suggest that the weir should be repaired and a baffled fish pass put in for migratory species, but in saying that, migratory species have had little problem over 100's of years in ascending Powick or any other weir, thats how the barbel got in from the Severn, they just swam over the weir in times of flood, suggested reasons for creating a Shad spawning site is a ruse to get financial support from the likes of Natural England, Heritage Lottery and the EA, we believe its all about flood defence, as Chris Ponsford stated it will destroy the Teme, because the Teme has no compensation water to draw off in times of drought, the weir at Powick has had fish passes put in since records began, as long ago as the 1890's, its is also a historical and archaeological site, reflecting the battle Worcester and the industrial revolution.
