July News
in this issue...
Making Space for Water | Dipping into our Projects
River Ure Water Quality Report
Nature Recovery Strategy | Pledge to BigGive
Turning Data into Action for Flood Resilience
River4Life Calendar | Stay Safe this Summer
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| Making Space for Water - Parliamentary Launch!
YDRT Senior NFM Project Officer, Matthew Lyall (pictured right) joined representatives from The Rivers Trust, National Trust, Woodland Trust and Beaver Trust, along with farmers and landowners at the Houses of Parliament for the Making Space for Water campaign launch with Minister Emma Hardy MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Water and Flooding and 15 other MPs. Key note speeches from
Mark Lloyd CEO of The Rivers Trust, Minister Emma Hardy MP and Sandra King CEO of the Beaver Trust
urged the Government to get behind their call for the creation of a network of connected, nature-rich river corridors to help the country capture and store more water and deliver more for wildlife.
There's more information about this important campaign below:
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| Get First Hand Insight into our Projects...
If you want to learn more about our projects from the inside out, then you may enjoy our bi-monthly LinkedIn blog entitled: Dipping into our Projects
. Click on the button below to read about water sampling in How Stean Beck, Natural Flood Management at Bardsey Fields and invasive species management on the Swinton estate. You can also subscribe so you receive all updates direct to your inbox.
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Making Space for Water
Join The Rivers Trust movement, National Trust, Woodland Trust, and Beaver Trust in calling for the UK Government to support farmers and landowners with funding to restore nature-rich river corridors. Farmers and landowners are on the frontline of climate and water challenges and urgently need more support.
The UK faces a growing water scarcity crisis and our rivers and landscape need to be restored to store more water and better recharge groundwaters.
We have some of the unhealthiest rivers in Europe - only a third of the UK's river stretches are in good ecological health. Biodiversity in the UK is also declining and spaces that should be nature's highways, are instead being left in a persistently poor condition as a result of the disconnect between activity on land and the impact on water. Nature-rich river corridors can:
🦋 Restore nature with connected corridors that support wildlife
💧 Protect communities from flooding and drought
🌳 Improve water quality and clean up rivers
🌡️ Boost climate resilience and support farmers
Sign the petition below to pledge your support:
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North Yorkshire Council - Local Nature Recovery Strategy Consultation
The public consultation for the North Yorkshire & York Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) launched Monday 30 June for a six-week period, closing Monday 11 August. Its aim is to consider land at a county scale and will identify locations to improve nature and provide other benefits, such as capturing carbon from the atmosphere, flood regulation and access to nature-rich spaces where this is most needed for health and wellbeing. Full details about the Strategy and how to have your say are available via the button below:
NYC is also hosting Wednesday July 19:00-20:00 to provide a briefing on the documentation for the public consultation, followed by a Q&A.
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Turning Data into Action for Flood Resilience
We are the lead delivery partner for Ousewem, a project that brings together local knowledge, science and partnerships to reduce flood risk across the Swale, Ure, Nidd and Upper Ouse catchments.
Click on the button below to hear directly from farmers and land managers in North Yorkshire and learn how flood models are helping identify the most appropriate natural flood management (NFM) solutions. You can also see how community-based approaches are laying the groundwork for next steps – like monitoring and unlocking green finance.
If you’re interested in flood resilience projects or think your land could benefit from fully funded NFM measures, visit www.ousewem.co.uk
or email ousewem@york.gov.uk.
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Thank you to our Volunteers!
June has been another busy month for our volunteers! We were grateful to lead corporate volunteering days with CITB and Hallam Land which both supported with some balsam bashing!
A further thank you to all the individual volunteers who supported our work with learning about outfall safaris, Mud Spotter and INNS control. Our volunteering programme resumes in September - to receive early alerts to opportunities in your area we recommend you sign up to Better Impact via the button below:
Photo: Removing American skunk cabbage. c. Yorkshire Water
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River Ure Water Quality Report
The findings from the water quality sampling conducted on the River Ure and its major tributaries on August 21st and October 9th 2024 is now available. This study aimed to analyse various water quality parameters across 45 sites to establish a baseline profile, identify pollution sources and assess the suitability of potential bathing sites.
The project was a collaborative effort between Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and Stop Ure Pollution, supported by volunteers and funded by Yorkshire Water. Key findings were as follows:
Physico-Chemical Parameters: The results indicated low levels of pollutants during the low flow sampling in August, with higher levels observed in October due to increased river flow and surface runoff.
E.coli concentrations:
were higher in October compared to August, likely due to storm discharges and agricultural runoff. Several sites, including potential bathing sites at Aysgarth Falls and Masham, had E.coli levels above the threshold for safe bathing.
Pollution Sources: The study identified significant pollution sources, including agricultural runoff, septic tanks, and storm discharges from sewage treatment works. The Tutt tributary showed particularly high levels of pollutants, warranting further investigation.
Download and read the full report along with our recommendations via the button below:
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Meet Lucy - our new Project Officer!
Lucy Hyde is the latest addition to the YDRT family, recently joining the team as project officer to help identify the optimum locations for nature based solutions (NbS) to mitigate pressures on the rivers Swale, Ure, Nidd, Ouse and Wharfe.
With an MSci in Earth Sciences from the University of Cambridge, where she completed a masters project investigating the transport of microplastic from landfill into groundwater, Lucy previously worked as an assistant analyst in hydrogeology at JBA Consulting, developing projects to restore peatland ecologies, modelling diffuse pollutant transport across landscapes and designing Nature based Solutions to improve water resources. Lucy is also a keen caver, spending much of her free time exploring the subterranean Yorkshire Dales!
Photo: Lucy Hyde
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| Can you pledge to our BigGive fundraiser?
It seems a little early to be talking about Christmas fundraisers... but to be eligible to take part in this year's December BigGive
match funding campaign - we need to receive £1250 of pre-pledges before 29 August. Pledges are effectively promises of donations to the campaign and will be match funded once the campaign goes live- and they don't need to be actually paid until December.
If you feel able to support this campaign now and make a pledge, please click on the button below:
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| River4Life Photography Competition
Thank you to everyone for your amazing submissions to our Photography Competition so far! The Spring stage is now closed, but Summer is open, so please submit your entries using the online form by 5
September.
Remember to include the location of your photographs, taken in the catchments of the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust which includes the rivers Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe and Ouse, and associated tributaries. The entry form can be accessed via the button below:
Photo by Ralph82 @ Pixabay
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| Stay Safe this Summer
It is an unfortunate fact that as air temperatures rise so do drownings in our rivers, lakes and coastal waters - with 47% of all UK accidental drownings occurring between May and August.
With most accidents being preventable it can be useful to review the Royal Lifesaving Society's information for staying safe in the water during the summer via the button below:
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