Storm Ciarán: Reservoirs stay closed after storm uproots trees

A big clear-up operation in ongoing

Some public reservoirs will be closed until further notice after large numbers of trees were uprooted by Storm Ciarán.

Jersey Water said unstable trees were another reason why the reservoirs needed to remain closed.

It said both Queen's Valley and Val de la Mare reservoirs are expected to remain shut into next week.

The firm's chief executive said they faced a "significant" clear-up operation.

Helier Smith said: "Initial inspections of the reservoirs indicate that we have very sadly lost a number of trees across both sites.

"Footpaths are impassable and very hazardous so we cannot stress enough how important it is for members of the public to respect the closures we have in place."

'Rare species'

He added there were "significant losses" in the botanical collection at the arboretum at Val de la Mare.

Since the storm, the utility company said it had been prioritising its water supply operations and supporting a small number of households who experienced issues.

Alex Morel from the Jersey Trees for Life charity added: "The scale of devastation is far beyond what we expected.

"We have lost some rare and threatened species of trees which will be hard to replace."

She said the priority was to make the paths safe again for people.

Jersey Water said it would review the situation on Monday and make a further announcement afterwards.

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