Yorkshire Water and partners Moors for the Future will embark on a catchment management project in Snailsden and Thurlston Moors later this month.
The scheme is part of a £2 million programme in support of Natural England to improve the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Natural England is the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England and aims to protect England’s nature and landscapes.
Centuries of change have led to Yorkshire’s peatland habitats being degraded. Over the next four years Yorkshire Water will conserve and
enhance 43 square miles of Yorkshire’s peat moorland – much of which is owned by the water company and designated as SSSI.
Innovative survey techniques have been used, including the use of unmanned aircraft to map erosion features on SSSI moorlands and identify areas for improvement.
Restoring and protecting the iconic landscapes will boost local biodiversity and also improve the quality of raw water in several moorland catchments.
The project on Snailsden and Thurlstone Moors will involve re-vegetation of eroded bare peat using local species including sphagnum mosses. Sphagnum regeneration will help to reduce peat loss and maintain the natural water table.
Grips and moorland gullies will also be restored. Grips or man-made drains were dug across Yorkshire’s upland peatlands in the mid-20th century to improve the land for agriculture but many of these have become badly eroded over time.
Approximately 4,000 peat turf and stone dams will be created in the grips and gullies to slow the water flow and also restore the water table. These will also trap peat sediment and help prevent it getting into water destined for customers’ water supplies, making it easier for the water company to treat the raw water.
Michael Toy, Yorkshire Water’s Project Manager said the water company would be using a helicopter to deliver the materials and the mosses to site because the moors are so remote.
The project at Snailsden and Thurlstone Moors will be complete in March (weather permitting) with the whole programme of work complete by the end of 2020.
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