Staff from the Environment Agency are tackling blockages along 2,300 kilometres of Yorkshire’s rivers this winter as part of their annual clear-up to reduce flooding.
They will be walking the banks to inspect the watercourses, looking for the kind of objects that could cause flooding by blocking the channel or trapping more debris and building up a dam.
Obstructions in the river can increase the risk of flooding in a river, so staff routinely patrol rivers in the winter months.
Rivers such as the Ouse, Aire, Swale, Hull and Don will be checked as well as the majority of smaller and lesser known rivers and tributaries.
The hazards can be natural ones, such as fallen trees that have been washed downstream, and sometimes they are man-made problems such as abandoned vehicles or fly-tipped waste like fridges and furniture.
The Environment Agency’s operations delivery teams tour all the main watercourses between November and March to remove those obstructions that can safely be pulled out of the river.
Specialist equipment
However, objects such as trees and large fly-tipped items cannot be easily or safely dealt with, so staff have to return with specialist lifting equipment at a later date.
Peter Holmes, operations delivery manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Sometimes we can clear blockages easily from the bank, but there are lots of other things that need more time and care.
“Large trees need to be carefully lifted from the channel and cut up into moveable chunks. Dumped vehicles can cause serious pollution problems if the petrol tank ruptures or oil escapes, so we need to be very careful.
“Sometimes we find potentially dangerous waste such as unlabelled drums or clinical waste that needs to be removed and investigated so it can be disposed of properly. And we always find shopping trolleys.”
The channel clearance work is essential to prevent flooding, but it is costly and time-consuming, and Peter is asking the public to help out: “The build up of waste in our rivers is not just unsightly, it can also greatly increase the risk of flooding. We can all do our bit by disposing of waste correctly, but if people do spot large obstructions that could result in flooding they can ring our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”
Notes to editors:
Over the winter period officers are patrolling rivers and tributaries in the following locations:
- In East Yorkshire on the catchments of the River Hull, Humber and Derwent, officers will be patrolling waterways in Hull, Kirk Ella, Cottingham, Hornsea, Hedon, Lockington, Dunswell, and Pocklington.
- In North Yorkshire, on the catchments of the Rivers Nidd, Ouse and Derwent, officers will be patrolling waterways in York, Selby, Harrogate, Ripon, Wetherby, Riccall and Pickering.
- In West Yorkshire, on the catchment of the Rivers Wharfe, Calder, Aire and Colne, officers will be patrolling waterways in Ilkley, Bramham, Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Bradford.
- In South Yorkshire, on the catchments of the River Don, Sheaf and Dearne officers will be patrolling waterways in Chesterfield, Sheffield, Darton, Doncaster, Barnsley, and Rotherham.
