Keighley Moor
You may wonder what a water company has to do with the moorlands of Yorkshire. Well, we own 25,000 Ha of land spanning National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds. 11,500 Ha of this land is designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - something very close to our hearts.
Much of the SSSI land is used to collect water for our reservoirs so we have a big role to play in ensuring the land is well looked after so that local water supplies are not affected.
In areas like this, drinking water can be discoloured from peat on the moors so we have to try and control and reduce the levels that run into our reservoirs. Doing so means we spend less on expensive treatment processes to stabilise the colour and help keep our customers' bills as low as possible.
But it's not all about good quality drinking water. We care a great deal about the upkeep and sustainability of Yorkshire's moorlands too. We want people to visit and enjoy our land for years to come - something that is at risk if we don't act now.
Watch our video to find out more
What are we doing at Keighley Moor?
In partnership with Natural England, our tenants and the Gamekeeper, we're undertaking some restoration work which will help to restore the water level - or hydrology - of key parts of Keighley Moor. Keeping the moors wetter for longer should reduce colour loss, and keep the peat where it belongs; on the moors and not in our rivers and reservoirs. In the face of more unpredictable weather, a more stable ecosystem will be of longer term benefit to both us and our tenants.
A very important part of this programme was to make sure we balance everybody's needs. We need water quality improvements, but our tenants earn a living from grazing sheep on the moor, and the Gamekeeper rears grouse for our tenant.
People's livelihoods depend on this moor, so if we're to be socially responsible, we must support our tenants. This programme demonstrates how to achieve a balance.
Why are we doing this?
Colour levels at all of our moorland reservoirs have increased significantly over the last 20 years or so. We're now faced with a choice of investing in very expensive treatment processes, or trying to stabilise the colour levels through projects like this. It is more sustainable to address the cause of the problem, rather than keep treating the symptoms. It should also be more cost effective for our customers too.
There are also wider benefits. The weather is becoming more unstable,which might be linked to climate change. Intense rainfall and particularly flash summer storms, can do huge amounts of damage to what are already quite fragile ecosystems. The peatlands of the Pennines are a precious resource, not just for the way they look, but for the wider services they provide. Many people value these areas for walking, food, water, sport and carbon storage.
We need to protect these peatlands by helping them withstand the changing weather. If we don't, they'll continue to be eroded and destroyed at an ever increasing rate, and in time we won't have any peatlands left. The work we're doing a Keighley Moor is part of a wider programme of peatland restoration across the Pennines, and whilst our main driver is water quality, our work
will help to protect these habitats for the longer term benefit of us all.
How will we do the work?
We've employed the services of two of the leading specialists in peatland restoration.
Penny Anderson Associates are well respected expert ecologists, and they've developed a plan which will raise the water table, and increase the diversity of vegetation to help encourage the plants which formed the peat in the first place.
Dinsdale Peatland Services are one of the best companies for restoring moors, and they've already undertaken a massive programme of similar works across a number of our other reservoir catchments, and wider afield across the Pennines. Their equipment is specially designed not to damage the moor, and they use state of the art technology to map what they have done, and where. For example, we'll be using Ground Penetrating Radar, developed with Leeds University to identify underground peat pipes, where erosion of peat takes place from underneath. Blocking key peat pipes will prevent further erosion, and help raise the water table.
The work will take 5 weeks and we've appointed a contractor who can do the work quickly. The footpaths across the dam, and our permissive path up Fairy Fold Dike which joins the Pennine Way will remain open, as the bulk of the restoration work will be located well away from the main areas accessible to the public.
