A willow pattern to save lake

The Ure, which created and drains Wensleydale, can be menacing around Boroughbridge and the Nidd flowing down from Whernside provides, via two reservoirs, the water supply for Bradford.

The River Bain can't match any of these as a crowd-puller. Its claim to fame is that at two miles-plus, it's the shortest river in England. But this tiddler has prompted some big thinking by people who live around here.

One of their plans is to harness it to generate electricity, near where it meets the Ure at Bainbridge in upper Wensleydale. A 45kW archimedes screw hydro plant will be sufficient to power the equivalent of about 40 homes. Any future surplus revenue will go towards further community environmental projects.

Their other grassroots project is centred on the other end of the Bain, at the lovely Semerwater and its Raydale catchment area. This is a natural glacial lake, important for breeding and migratory birds and also for people who value its beauty and water sports potential.

But this shallow stretch of water, only four metres deep at best, is under threat. It is filling in fast because of the run-off from the steep sides of the surrounding farmland. It is fed at the top end by becks that run through through Bardale, Raydale and Cragdale. Today, the water quality is graded as unfavourable because of the amount of phosphate and nutrients and in the past there have been incidents of toxic blooms on the surface and dead fish. Drier summers and stronger winds coming down and churning up the water have made

things worse.

The lake and its 8,000 water lilies must surely be one of the county's hidden gems. It's now the focus of a campaign called Saving Semerwater for Future Generations. The main player in this is the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT), a charity founded six years ago. The big battalions – the Environment Agency, Natural England and Yorkshire Dales National Parks Authority among them – are linked into what the trust does and provide some financial help.

But its main aim (and of others like it around the country) is to start a process which will get local people, including the farmers and landowners, on-side and moving in the same direction. Together they consider the broader picture and work out the best means of conserving and improving the rivers and waterways.

The secretary of the YDRT is a retired vet called Nick Buck. He puts forward the trust's notion that schemes in which the locals feel a sense of ownership are the ones most likely to be practical and successful.

Any change for the better requires micro management of the immediate landscape. But how for example, do you get a hill farmer to alter the way he does things, especially if he's making only a tiny income from his business? Local persuasion might do the trick. How do you make the many small interventions on the ground that can make a big difference? You enlist the co-operation of the people who have an intimate knowledge of local conditions. Ally that personal knowledge with expert scientific advice and you should have an effective team.

Deborah Millward fits the bill on both counts. She is a botanist employed on a funded project here as well a local volunteer who has spent years working out ways to improve the quality of Semerwater. Some of the mature ash trees to be seen today overlooking the lake were originally planted by her.

"You can't come in pretending you know it all," says Deborah. "It's a gentle process. The Carnegie UK Trust, the first funding source, engaged YDRT with a brief to look at 'sustainable community assets'. That's a dreadful thing to put over. So we put what we were doing down to climate change. And if you say to the doubters of that, 'it's saving you money as well', you also have them on your side."

Beginning by the banks of the River Bain, Deborah led an evening walk around Semerwater organised by the Farm and Wildlife Advisory Group.

The following couple of hours revealed the complexity of small particulars and how they link-up. How small? Well, how about the consideration they have given to the fish in the river and where they like the shade.

Among the group making the tour was Matthew Bell who has been farming land around here for 30 years since he was 15. Matthew, of Semerdale Hall Farm, has 70 dairy cattle and 300 sheep.

Known locally as a very progressive farmer, he is also on a steering group managing the Raydale catchment area.

On his land fringing the Bain, four species of willow have been planted to link up the woodland to provide a continuous wildlife corridor from Bainbridge.

The clever thing is that nutrients spread on the land that don't get used are soaked up by the willows and stop them getting in the river.

There's another plus which comes from planting these trees on the west bank – the brown trout prized by anglers like the shade over here and the willows will provide more.

Trout are among the most temperature-sensitive of our fish, preferring water temperatures below 20C – anything higher can cause changes in fish behaviour, growth and fertility. A recent study found that planting riparian trees on the margins of streams could play a big part in preventing summer water temperatures rising to dangerous limits.

For an outsider, it's quite an eye-opener to find how many hoops a farmer in a conservation scheme must jump through. The days of him simply recycling on his land the natural waste products of his livestock are long gone. Soil tests are taken from the fields to find how much nutrient is being held there. Working from this expert analysis, a consultant draws up a programme of what to put on the land. Spreading lime as well brings up the alkaline level and flushes out the phosphates and nitrates.

For grassland, farmers tend to put down a standard amount of compound fertiliser. Scientific analysis leads to a saving on the fertiliser bill as well as reducing the run-off which leads to algae blooms on the water courses.

Walking half a mile to the shores of the lake, it became clear how the land above it, if managed sensitively, will affect the quality of the water. Here on the eastern side of the lake the land belongs to three different owners.

The first is a small scale dairy farm on steep, sometimes boggy land with a stone barn – a typical upland dales hay meadow. There are redshank, lapwing and curlew in the top field. This farmer has been persuaded to join a conservation scheme which means no chemical fertiliser, no slurry litter and they can only cut the hay late, in the traditional manner, after July 15.

It was suggested to the adjacent landowner that planting of linear woodland would be a good idea. But this owner didn't want any impediment for his livestock. So a compromise was reached. Wood pasture was planted instead – in effect dotting trees across the hillside. Ash was chosen because it casts the lightest shade so there won't be a loss of grassland underneath and it's also the main native tree in this area.

The third owner beside the lake on this side is the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. It showed by sharp contrast what can happen when no one has to try to make a living from a piece of land.

Traversing a narrow path on the steep hillside, I came eyeball to eyeball with more curlews than I have ever seen in one place.

A linear woodland of 600 trees was planted 20 years ago to slow down the rain run-off. The trees chosen are what they call their "red squirrel mix" – none of the varieties produce fruits which might interest grey squirrels and attract them here to drive out the population of native reds. Equally elusive are the rare black grouse which like the rowan, birch and willow to be found around here.

The encircling southern ridge above Semerwater offers a bad case of eroding peat. A great deal of money was spent here a generation ago creating "grips" to drain it for agriculture. Now it's the scene of a huge programme of work to block the grips and restore the peat to perform a more useful function as a sequester of carbon.

It's all a bit topsy-turvy, a bit like the Legend of Raydale the verses of which are pinned up in the church at Stalling Busk at the top end of Semerwater. It tells the story of a poor and aged man who came here to what was a "thriving city". Upset by his treatment at the hands of the locals – with the exception of Shepherd Malcolm – the aged incomer ordered the waters of the lake to inundate the city. According to the poem, the roofs and spires of the drowned city can still occasionally be seen beneath the blue waves of Semerwater. There is nothing fanciful, however, about the determination of local people to ensure that Semerwater survives.

The Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust is looking for new members. Contact 01677 424294.

YP MAG 24/7/10