Victory for Ilkley campaigners as Yorkshire Water agree to stop dumping sewage in the River Wharfe

Around 70 members of the Ilkley Clean Rivers Group met with representatives of the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water this week to call for action to be taken to prevent raw sewage being dumped in the Wharfe during periods of heavy rainfall.

The discharges are legal to prevent nearby homes from flooding with contaminated water - but are having an adverse impact on the water quality and ecosystem of the river.

Ilkley supermarket Booths to appear in new series of Last Tango in HalifaxAlthough the Environment Agency had imposed a 10-year deadline for upgrading an upstream pumping station at Addingham which is often overwhelmed during storms, Yorkshire Water, who manage the site, have agreed to take immediate remedial action.

They expect to find a solution to the issue before the end of 2020.

A statemnent from Ilkley Clean Rivers Group read: "This commitment is a significant step to a better environment for both the ecology of the water and for our children to paddle, play and swim in the river, and for people to picnic by the river without fear of pollution and public health hazards.

"The Clean Rivers Group is delighted with the announcement and looks forward to seeing the imaginative, future-facing solution to providing clean water in Ilkley that will withstand climate change and population growth."

The campaigners are also lobbying DEFRA to designate the stretch of the Wharfe near Ilkley as safe bathing water - meaning that the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water would be legally required to regularly test the river and monitor pollution levels.

A decision of whether the status will be granted is expected in May.

Sports clubs in Bingley and Ilkley face major clean-up after Storm Ciara floodingCurrently, there are no rivers in the UK with the status, which is usually awarded to beaches and lakes.

The river attracts large crowds of swimmers during the summer, but the group claim it suffers from pollution emanating from the upstream Yorkshire Water treatment facility.

They believe that bacteria levels rise when rainfall overwhelms the sewage pumping station's storm tanks, causing untreated effluent to enter the river. These discharges are legal in order to prevent leakages into people's homes, and are often permitted by the Environment Agency.

Bradford Council have backed the group's submitted application to DEFRA. If granted, the Environment Agency would be required to conduct weekly testing during summer and issue pollution risk forecasts, as well as investigating the source of any pollution detected and taking enforcement action.

The campaigners must convince DEFRA that there is high demand for swimming. Last summer, Ilkley Clean River Group monitored activity at the site and found that on several hot days, more than 1,000 people entered the water.

They want a 300-metre stretch from Ilkley Old Bridge to Beanlands Island to be covered by the protection.

Their grassroots activism has uncovered 'regular and routine' sewage dumping in the Wharfe by Yorkshire Water with the Environment Agency's consent. Several members of the group are retired scientists who conducted 'citizen testing' themselves.

Between April and December 2019, there were 136 instances when sewage was discharged into the river.

The campaigners have argued that the poor water quality could also impact upon fish and other species living in the Wharfe.

Ilkley resident and campaigner Professor Rebecca Malby believes the group have uncovered a 'national scandal' and exposed the poor maintenance of outdated sewage systems.

"We first started noticing the discharges from the storm overflow pipe about a year ago, and fishermen were also telling us that fish stocks were depleted. The overflows happen after anything more than a little bit of rain.

"The water companies basically have a licence just to dump sewage. If the water is higher than a certain level, they say sewage could back up and flow into people's houses. We say they need to set the limit higher and upgrade the plant.

"It is happening a few times every week. We accept it will happen in exceptional weather conditions, but not day-to-day.

"The legislation (on sewage discharge) is imposed by the EU but it is very loosely interpreted here. If anything, after Brexit it could be tightened up.

"There are often over 1,000 people swimming and paddling in the river on nice summer days - it's fine in dry conditions but the E.coli levels can be 40-50 times the safe limit after rainfall. Children are playing in that water.

"Fish numbers are declining and the water is not fit to support the ecosystem. It's a first world country and you can see this brown sludge heading up the river

"Nobody has tried to get a river designated before. We have a fantastic team of scientists who are based locally, they have monitored and tested the water and we know it is not farm run-off - it is coming from the sewage works.

"It's happening everywhere, it's not just in Ilkley. The system isn't fit for purpose. We have manholes spewing sewage, but the water companies have walked a slow walk with improvements."