£ A G A s'T P)o X S ncy. It’s our job to look after your for you, and for [•liiciiyioiHiittii V [• IflllSElCtllllll V environment A g e n c y ;»mannifaiie ill«l Information Services Unit Please return or renew this item by the due date The Nidd and Wharfe Start their lives in remote and beautiful countryside. The Nidd rises near Great Whernside at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and then winds eastwards to join the Ouse at Nun Monkton. The Wharfe rises high in the Northern Pennines close to Ribblehead. It is formed at the meeting of Oughtershaw and Langstrothdale Becks at Beckermonds and then flows east before entering the Ouse. The last 16 kilometres of the Wharfe is tidal. The Nidd & Wharfe ECKERMONDS River W harfe Scarbouse and Angram Resevoir River Nidd catchment River Skirfare LIT][pN ' GREAT WHERNS HOFTHOUSE • RAM SG ILL I KETTLEWELl K IL N S m Rivef • WATH Dibb # PATELEY BRIDGE LINTON #\*GRASSW GTON R ive r O use River Nidd w p le t BURNSALL#\ APPLETRE fR ST W IT H # (RESBOROUGH <UN M O N K T O N ® - BARDEN River HAM PSTH WAIT TOWER Washburn BOLTON ABBEY < HARI Siver N id d • BE 5LEY River Crimple i W ETHERBY River W harfe ' R iv e r W h arfe IL» BURLEY I* m ~ 9 HAREWC BOSTON ^ • )CAS1 WHARFED/ POOL a r t h in g t o h SPA J NEWTOM KYME Total catchment population: River O use Approximately 250,000 Cock Beck ULLE?KELF Total catchment drainage area: 1,555 square kilometres Much of the upper catchment is rural, with population and industry Main tributaries of the Nidd: including farming, tourism and concentrated in small and medium Oak Beck, Darley Beck, River Crimple mineral extraction. Even the beauty sized towns, such as llkley, Main tributaries of the Wharfe: of the countryside can bring its own River Dibb. River Skirfare, River Tadcasterand Harrogate. problems. For example, a substantial Washburn, Collingham Beck, Firgreen Beck, Cock Beck, River Fleet While the Nidd and Wharfe may not increase in visitor numbers can place have been subjected to the harsh considerable strain on undersized, Length from source to sea: rural, foul drainage systems. Nidd 97.2 kilometres punishments suffered by their urban counterparts during the Wharfe 123.2 kilometres So although it may appear that this Industrial Revolution, water quality Highest point in catchment (above catchment has little to fear from is still a major issue. sea level or Ordnance Datum): pollution, that is not the case. We Nidd 595 metres All industries can exert their own and many other organisations still Wharfe 560 metres r*rnrnii’Ac «« ~ ---------------------* have to remain vigilant. ENVIRONMENT AGENCY Environment Agency River factfile 1 102314 How clean are your rivers? Most stretches of the Nidd and Wharfe have good water quality but pollution is still an ever-present threat. Agricultural effluents pose a particular problem in rural areas and can have devastating consequences if they find their way into a watercourse. Silage liquor, which is produced Water quality classification 2004 Class A and B rivers are of a high quality when farmers compress cut grass - clean enough for salmon and trout to The River Nidd and its tributaries, live in and to be used for drinking water. for winter feed, is around 300 149.5km They also support a variety of times more polluting than invertebrates (worms, insects etc) untreated sewage. Cattle slurry is including mayflies and stoneflies. highly polluting and sheep dip Class C and D rivers are often home to chemicals cause problems even at coarse fish such as roach and chub and low concentrations. A single sometimes trout in C waters. These rivers pollution incident can cause the can be used for drinking water if it is deaths of thousands of fish. treated and a good variety of invertebrate life can be found. We have to keep a close eye on Class E rivers can still support coarse fish the potential problems industry but cannot be used for drinking water. can cause. This is particularly true Class A - very good 27.76% for the River Wharfe, which is Class B - good 52% Class F rivers are badly polluted. Worms and midges can live in them but fish home to industries such as Class C - fairly good 2% cannot. brewing, paper manufacture, coal Class D - fair 17.6% mining and mineral extraction. C la ss E - poor 0 . 0 5 % Class F - bad 0 % The River Wharfe and its tributaries, 279km Class A - very good 60.5% Class B - good 29% Class C - fairly good 4 % Class D - fairO% Class E - poor 6.5% C la ss F - bad 0 % Did you know you can check out the state of your local river by using our website? By accessing the ‘What’s in your backyard* section you can choose any one of the 7,000 sites where our officers sample and test the water quality. All you need is a postcode or a place name. Check out your riyer at www.environment-agency.gov.uk. 2 Environment Agency River factfile One of the best tests of a river’s water quality is to find out what’s living in it. The Wharfe was once home to a self-sustaining salmon and sea trout population, which need good quality water. The good news is that they are returning to the catchment once again in encouraging numbers thanks to both water quality and habitat improvements. Fisheries Both the Nidd and the Wharfe are The Nidd The Wharfe home to high quality trout and coarse fish, with the species found Trout can be found as far The upper sections contain only in greater abundance in some downstream as Knaresborough and trout with grayling appearing in the sections than others due to grayling down to Tockwith. Dace, Buckden area. The river remains variations in water quality. chub, gudgeon, perch and the predominantly a trout and grayling occasional roach are found fishery as far down as llkley. Chub, Numerous weirs on both rivers act downstream of Birstwith Weir, dace, perch and gudgeon and some as barriers to fish movement and we which acts as a barrier to upstream roach also appear in this stretch of are working with other organisations fish movement. Downstream of river with the numbers increasing to gradually overcome these Knaresborough, bream, barbel, through Burley*in-Wharfedale. obstacles, by using fish passes and pike and ruffe are also common. other improvements. Downstream of Harewood Weir, the The headwaters above Angram fishery is mostly made up of dace, chub, grayling, gudgeon, roach, trout, pike and barbel, with som e bream between Wetherby and acidity of water running off the peat Boston Spa. At Tadcaster the river is a good coarse fishery with chub, dace, barbel, bream, pike, perch and eel. Environment Agency River factflle 3 Wildlife and conservation Rare and protected species, including water votes, otters and our native white-clawed crayfish, are to be found in this river catchment and work is taking place to protect them and their habitats. In the last century, around 17 species of plants and animals became extinct in the UK, emphasising the need to care for our native species and the areas in which they live. This catchment is rich in areas that Water voles and otters inhabit both Nidderdale and are recognised both nationally and internationally for their importance Wharfedale. to wildlife. The diverse countryside Native white-clawed crayfish, depressed river mussel and offers a range of habitats from spectacular gritstone and Lamprey are all present in the Nidd and the Wharfe. limestone scenery to beautiful Dwarf bladder moss and violet crystalwort grow moorland. The Wharfe catchment rises in and is a major feature of the throughout the catchment. southern Yorkshire Dales National Fine lined pea mussel can be found in Wharfedale. Park with much of its reaches designated as Sites of Special Spiriverpa lunulata, a species of stilleto fly, can be found Scientific Interest. A large area of in Wharfedale. the upper Nidd catchment is designated as an Area of River shingle beetle can be found in Nidderdale. Outstanding Natural Beauty. We work with many other organisations to protect and improve these valuable habitats and the wildlife they attract. 4 Environment Agency River factfile Pollution watchdog Pollution prevention and control is a vital part of our work. We are responsible for regulating many industrial processes to make sure they are not damaging the environment. Major investment by industry over pollution aware. We work with all can wipe out fish stocks for miles the past couple of decades, as well these sectors to highlight the downstream. Overfull slurry stores as much tougher limits on simple ways they can help protect can also cause problems if heavy discharges to air, land and water, the environment and even save rainfall gets into them and they have all had benefits for the money at the same time. overflow. environment. Slurry and fertilisers can have a Thankfully the picture is not all This work and investment is devastating effect on water quality, doom and gloom. Simple steps can continuing throughout the Nidd wildlife and fish stocks. Every year prevent problems and we are and Wharfe catchment and will we have to deal with damaging working with farming organisations hopefully bring about further incidents caused by inadequate in a bid to wipe out bad practice improvements in water quality and storage facilities or poor working and reduce damaging incidents. a reduction in pollution incidents. practices. But the work doesn’t stop at big Some of these are caused by the industrial processes - other collapse of lagoon walls, leading to businesses and the farming the release of slurry, which runs community also need to be across land into watercourses and Reducing impact on the environment case study Two paper mills in the Otley area usage by almost half for every after tree roots damaged it.