Drought permit should be last resort - campaigners

Prof Becky Malby standing on the exposed bed of the River Wharfe

Campaigners have urged the Environment Agency to delay granting a water company permission to draw extra supplies from the River Wharfe.

Yorkshire Water has applied for a drought order allowing it to extract additional water from the river at Lobwood, near Ilkley, and to reduce the amount it releases into the river from Grimwith Reservoir.

The firm said the application was an "essential step" to protect water supplies and the environment after "an extremely dry year".

However, Prof Beck Malby, from the Ilkley Clean River Group, said the Wharfe was already struggling in the conditions and urged Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency to explore other alternative steps.

"I've never seen the river so low and I've lived here 30 years," she said.

"You can walk across at this point [where I'm standing] and normally this is incredibly deep.

"So there is really very little water left for wildlife, for the natural habitats to survive here."

If approved a drought order would apply for up to six months depending on conditions

Prof Malby said she believed the drought order should only be granted as a last resort and "not until we've done everything else first."

"And, everything else first means a massive public campaign to ensure that we can all reduce our water consumption," she said.

"And Yorkshire Water should be taking the lead with the Environment Agency on that."

Environment Agency specialist Tom Padgett said the permit would allow Yorkshire Water to reduce how much water it pumped from the reservoir to "top up" natural flows within the river.

He said: "That would allow the reservoir stocks to remain for longer, so protects that level of public supply.

"Although we have to ensure, at the Environment Agency, that that doesn't have a knock-on impact on the environment downstream."

A decision on the application - and a third to allow the firm to extract additional water from the River Ouse, near York - is expected to be made in the week beginning 25 August, he said.

The Wharfe at Cromwheel was granted bathing status in 2020

Yorkshire Water customers have been subject to a hosepipe ban since 11 July amid a prolonged spell of warm and dry weather in the UK.

Last week the company said it had not ruled out extending the ban to businesses after water levels at its reservoirs dropped to 42.2% capacity.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "The drought permit we applied for on the Wharfe is an important part of the next stage of our Drought Plan.

"If granted, it will allow us to temporarily draw more water from the Wharfe when conditions allow.

"This will help to reduce the pressure on our reservoir stock in the short-term, as well as enabling them to recharge and refill quicker through the autumn and winter months.

"It is an essential step to protect water supplies and the environment after an extremely dry year and the declaration of drought in our region, which has been brought about by six consecutive months of below average rainfall."

A hosepipe ban was implemented on 11 July across much of Yorkshire after an extended spell of dry weather.

Domestic water usage subsequently dropped by 10%.

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