‘It’s a disaster’: drought measure to suck water from River Wharfe met with anger
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Version 0 of 1. Campaigners accuse Yorkshire Water of negligence and say plan to top up reservoirs will kill the river’s fish With its pebble beach and shallow areas for paddling, the River Wharfe at Ilkley has long been a popular swimming location in the pretty Yorkshire town. But plagued by sewage and agricultural runoff, the river has been designated as “poor” quality, and a sign has been put up warning people against bathing in it. And now, the health of the river has been put further at risk with emergency drought plans by Yorkshire Water to suck water from it to top up its reservoirs. A drive by campaigners and wild swimmers led it in 2021 to be the first in the country to get designated bathing status – meaning the government tests it for the harmful E coli and intestinal enterococci bacteria. Yorkshire went into drought in mid-June, with locals banned from using hosepipes from early July. Reservoir levels continue to drop, despite recent rain. They dropped to 62.9% on Monday from 66.1% the previous week, well below the average of 87.8% for August. To top them up, the company has applied for an emergency drought order to extract additional water from the river, and to reduce the amount it releases into the river from Grimwith reservoir. On Friday, this was approved by the Environment Agency (EA). The government quango admitted that “the issuing of this permit will mean a reduced amount of water in the designated bathing water”. Prof Becky Malby, from the Ilkley Clean River Group, said: “The less water in the river, the more that pollution is concentrated from agriculture and from sewage, which means the oxygen levels will be low. When it’s warm and the river is in such low flow, the water heats up. This means that the fish in the river will overheat, suffocate and die. It’s a disaster for the environment.” Rivers have been bearing the brunt of this year’s drought, with Southern Water having applied to take enough water from a rare chalk stream to take it below its ecologically safe level. The musician turned water campaigner Feargal Sharkey also raised the alarm after his local river was drastically reduced in volume by the EA. Yorkshire Water has been criticised for a slow response to plummeting reservoir levels and failing to build enough of them; there has been no major reservoir built in England in more than 30 years. The company has also been widely criticised for allowing sewage to spill into nearby rivers, including the Wharfe. Despite these failings, the chief executive of the company has managed to retain a high income. The Guardian recently revealed the boss of Yorkshire Water, Nicola Shaw, has received £1.3m in previously undisclosed extra pay since 2023 through an offshore parent company, on top of her large salary and bonuses. Though nearby fish farms, campsites and private septic tanks cause some pollution into the Wharfe, the two main causes are sewage pollution and agricultural runoff. Recent sampling by the EA found nitrates and phosphates from farming in the river, and also found that after heavy rain the presence of harmful bacteria from animal faeces increases, which means runoff from farms is having an impact as well as the sewage outflows in the area. After public pressure, Yorkshire Water is building new sewers around the river to clean it up. The draining of the river will have dire consequences for it, says the ecologist Prof Rick Battarbee. “It’s a serious issue,” he said, “especially for fish potentially trapped in pockets of poor quality water. The river will also have reduced capacity to dilute treated effluent that is continually discharged into the river from sewage treatment works downstream, which means that nutrient pollution becomes more severe and faecal bacteria concentrations will be higher.” He pointed out the bathing site is “ironically situated just 4km or so downstream of the Lobwood abstraction point. The site has failed to achieve safe bathing status each of the four years since designation – taking more water out of the river will not help this year’s compliance statistics.” Campaigners have said that the company, and the government, should have been much faster to encourage the public to conserve water at the first signs of drought, and to ensure pipes were properly maintained so they did not leak water. Malby said: “It is shocking that Yorkshire Water can be allowed to leak 260m litres a day but has been granted a permit to extract 120m litres a day from our river which is already so low is it endangering our wildlife. There has been no national campaign to reduce water usage, no plan to conserve and protect water when Yorkshire Water and the regulators have seen this coming for years. Water extraction would not be needed if we had effective plans to store and manage water, and our water pipes were properly maintained. We see no plans from government, water companies and regulators to address this shocking negligence.” The chief executive of River Action, James Wallace, added: “Allowing such a nationally significant stretch of river to bear the cost of poor long-term planning sets a worrying precedent. Water companies have had decades to prepare for climate change. The science has long warned us of hotter summers, shifting rainfall and severe droughts. Yet not a single new reservoir has been built since privatisation in 1989. Instead, billions have flowed out in dividends, while chief executives pocket vast bonuses.” Claire Barrow, Environment Agency Yorkshire’s drought manager, said: “Despite recent rainfall in Yorkshire, this has not been enough to refill rivers and reservoirs, and water supplies continue to decline. This permit will allow Yorkshire Water’s reservoir stocks to remain for longer, so it protects that level of public supply. We only issue a permit if we are content that there are clear plans in place to mitigate any impact on the environment, along with strong evidence from Yorkshire Water of their ongoing commitment to reduce leaks and improve water efficiency.” Dave Kaye, the director of water at Yorkshire Water, said: “The application and implementation process of the drought permit is tightly regulated, and clear conditions are outlined as to when it’s possible to use the permit. Specialist independent consultants have already assessed the environmental risks of implementing a drought permit. These have been agreed by the Environment Agency as part of this process. Once implemented, we will continue to monitor the permit to ensure any environmental impacts on the downstream ecology are mitigated.” |