Lewes Town Council may move the Pells Lake fish to safety after heatwaves left the lake so low it would take hundreds of thousands of litres to refill.

Lewes Town Council is taking specialist advice on temporarily moving the fish out of Pells Lake, after this summer’s heatwaves left the water so low that the council says it would take “hundreds of thousands of litres of water” to top the lake back up.

In an update published on 6 August, the council said one dead fish had been found in the lake and removed. Water is being added from the source that also feeds Pells Pool next door, but the council concedes the effect so far is minimal against the scale of the shortfall. The lake sits on the water table, so its level rises and falls with the groundwater in the surrounding land, and this summer’s heat has pushed it well down.

What the council is doing

The falling water has exposed debris in the lake, which council staff are removing carefully to avoid disturbing the silt on the bottom. That silt has now been professionally sampled, and the council is waiting on the analysis to understand what the lakebed means for water quality before deciding its next steps.

One of the lake’s floating islands, planted to boost oxygen levels in the water, has been taken out after its plants were partially eaten and displaced. Staff have also completed a litter pick around the lake’s edge, and the council is asking concerned residents not to go into the lake itself to pull litter out, for their own safety.

Councillor Matthew Bird, who chairs the town council’s Buildings and Amenities Committee, said: “Managing the Pells Lake is a highly complex issue, and we are very aware of the variety of issues that we’ve been notified about.”

Beyond the immediate measures, the council says it is working on a wider restoration of the lake as a long-term project, and is planning for what happens if the water level becomes critical. That includes consulting specialists about temporarily relocating the fish, a step it says has to be weighed against the risk of spreading disease or contaminating other water bodies.

What it means for you

If you walk past the Pells and are worried by what you see, the council’s message is that it knows: the low water, the exposed debris and the state of the islands have all been reported, and staff are monitoring the lake continuously. Report anything new to the town council rather than wading in; it specifically asks that nobody enters the lake to litter pick.

Pells Pool, the open-air lido beside the lake, draws on the same spring and remains open for the season, which runs into September. It is one of the spots in our guide to things to do in Lewes.

The council says it will keep publishing updates as the silt analysis comes back and decisions are made on the fish. We will follow it up.