Pioneering scheme to improve dyke water

A PIONEERING project in South Yorkshire is investigating whether improvements to river habitats can enhance water quality.

The work by Yorkshire Water at Sandybridge Dyke, near Royston, is one of very few initiatives across the country of its kind.

If successful, the results could revolutionise the way the water industry approaches meeting river water quality standards close to waste treatment works.

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The work will involve digging out a dried reed bed and creating a new double meander. The new river route has been designed to take key detours to ensure it does not damage the existing water vole population or any other local wildlife.

The firm’s biodiversity advisor Kathryn Turner said: “We are keen to discover if habitat restoration can help streams like Sandybridge dyke recover from their industrial heritage and be more resilient in the future.

“Our work on this may help to inform future investment and may result in the use of habitat restoration to address poor water quality in areas where multiple pressures are acting.”

Once finished, it is hoped the restoration will create a visible increase in indicators of good water quality, such as plants and invertebrates, as well as speeding up the flow of the river and adding oxygen into the water.

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The site will open up the water’s edge to more visitors and encourage native freshwater species such as shrimps, mayflies and brown trout to return.

The habitat restoration is being trialled at the dyke, which runs through Rabbit Ings country park, as a partnership between Yorkshire Water, landowners The Land Trust and Barnsley Council and managing agents Groundwork Dearne Valley.

The stream runs through land formerly used to store waste from the nearby coal mine and a closed landfill site. Experts say the stream is mostly man made, in poor condition and the perfect case study for the research.