WIREDGOV

The Environment Agency has secured £50,000 from Yorkshire Water Services for not releasing enough water into the environment from two reservoirs.

Yorkshire Water has paid £50,000 to Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust for a local project in Ughill. The payment comes after insufficient water was released from two reservoirs due to incorrect measurements.

The Environment Agency took enforcement action in response to the breach. It also ensured the statutory water company properly reviewed the gauging set up at several other reservoir compensation sites across Yorkshire.

Downstream rivers depend on compensation flows to keep ecosystems intact and functioning, with a potential impact on oxygen levels, habitat and water quality if insufficient water is released.

It is Yorkshire Water’s duty to release a certain amount of water from some of its reservoirs in order to maintain the health of downstream rivers.

On 18 November 2021, the water company reported to the Environment Agency that it had failed to release the required flows from Winscar and Windleden reservoirs.

This resulted in flows at a downstream weir at Dunford Bridge being below the requirements of the water company’s impoundment licence, posing a risk of long-term environmental harm.

Yorkshire Water said that the failure was due to a weir gauge and meter not measuring correctly, resulting in lower than necessary flows. 

The Environment Agency discovered this had been a problem for four months, but no direct evidence of damage to the environment has been found. 

Cash spent on restoration and natural flood management

The £50,000 is enabling site of specific scientific interest (SSSI) restoration and natural flood management work at the head of the Loxley Valley in the Peak District.

It will also contribute to hay meadow management to increase species richness, pond creation for amphibians (including great crested newts) and an ecological survey, monitoring and mapping work to conserve important wildlife like lapwings and curlews.

Martin Christmas, Environment Agency environment manager in Yorkshire, said:

While we continue to prosecute and sanction the most serious offences, Enforcement Undertakings allow companies to put right what went wrong and channel money directly into the environment.

In this case, £50,000 will be invested back into the local area to enhance the environment, delivering real benefits for the watercourses and wildlife.  

We are continuing to drive meaningful improvements in water company performance, hold persistent offenders to account and ultimately create a cleaner water environment.

Ughill is ‘wetter, wilder and more resilient’

Keith Tomkins, nature recovery development manager at Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, said:

Ughill is wetter, wilder and more resilient as a result of this project and funding, with curlew nesting for the first time this year and the site now supporting other breeding waders such as lapwing. 

In June we are hosting our first farmer’s visit, so we can start to share what we have learned with others in the upland farming community.

Ughill was acquired by the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust in 2023. It lies within the Peak District National Park and consists of a mix of site of specific scientific interest (SSSI) moorland, hay meadow, woodland and a large waterbody.

It is particularly important for wading birds. Interesting wildlife present include over 180 plant species, over 50 bird species, eight mammals and three species of butterfly of conservation concern, including the dingy skipper.

Water resource management includes the continuous regulation of lakes, rivers, wetlands, reservoirs and aquifers to ensure the water needs of the public does not come at the price of environmental damage.

The Environment Agency is the main agency responsible for regulating water resource management in the UK.

Enforcement undertakings are legally binding agreements between the Environment Agency and companies that have breached environmental rules. 

The undertaking requires the company to take steps to prevent repetition of the offending and to put right the damage it has caused.

It usually includes a payment to an environmental charity to carry out improvements in the local area.

This money can help deliver immediate benefits to the environment, without requiring lengthy and uncertain court proceedings - complementing the Environment Agency’s wider enforcement action against serial offenders. 

The Environment Agency is empowered to deal with breaches through warnings, advice and guidance up to prosecution as part of our enforcement response, alongside local level actions which tackle the root causes of breaches to prevent future offending and reduce environmental impact.

Background

• Enforcement undertakings are a civil sanction available under the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010. They are a legally binding agreement accepted by the Environment Agency.
• The Environment Agency may accept an enforcement undertaking where it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person offering the undertaking has committed an offence. 
• It will only consider accepting an enforcement undertaking for cases where the offer itself addresses the cause and effect of the offending; or the offer protects, restores or enhances the environment.
• The Environment Agency continues to prosecute organisations and individuals for environmental offences where evidence shows high levels of culpability and serious environmental harm.