River Wharfe outfalls in Ilkley set for Yorkshire Water remote camera pilot wharfedaleobserver.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wharfedaleobserver.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
CLEAN river campaigners in Ilkley have criticised the Environment Agency for failing to test water quality in an area of the Wharfe that is popular with bathers, despite being regularly polluted with raw sewage. A stretch of the River Wharfe in Ilkley was the first in the UK to be granted bathing water status from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last year after a campaign by the Ilkley Clean River Group. It requires the Environment Agency to regularly test the water quality of the river during the bathing water season which started on Saturday, and to take any action to address pollution. Testing will continue until the end of September.
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Popular visitor spots Burnsall, Grassington and Linton Falls within the Yorkshire Dales National Park - which regularly attract swimmers - all returned high readings of E.coli when tested in 2020.
Linton Falls
E.coli can cause severe diarrhoea and vomiting and poses a particular risk to children and vulnerable adults.
In a 90-minute virtual town hall meeting held on Thursday, senior Yorkshire Water staff confirmed that the Wharfe Partnership would monitor the overall health of the river and that it has strong government backing .
Keighley s MP, Robbie Moore, believes that the government is keen to roll out more public-led bathing water schemes at other rivers across the country and he has invited environment minister Rebecca Pow to visit Ilkley this summer.
THE Wharfe Partnership, which has been formed to improve the health of the river Wharfe following DEFRA’s decision to grant bathing water designation in Ilkley, has appointed an independent chairman. Roger Falconer, who is currently emeritus professor of water and environmental engineering and founding director of the Hydro-environmental Research Centre at the School of Engineering, Cardiff University, will formally take up his position as independent chair of the partnership at the first meeting of the board in the coming months. He brings a wealth of experience in engineering and hydro-environmental modelling, water security, water quality and flooding and was formerly professor of water engineering and head of civil engineering at Bradford University.