By Rebecca Speare-Cole

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Yorkshire’s rivers are set to benefit from a £21 million investment that will support work to clear historic barriers linked to the region’s industrial past that prevent fish movement.

A collaborative network of local river health groups, charities and organisations have been removing or modifying redundant structures, often associated with mills and heavy industries that were powered by the region’s waterways.

The partnership, led by the Environment Agency, the Rivers Trust and Yorkshire Water, hopes to open up the waterways to revive ecosystems and allow fish to move freely, helping them breed.

In the last decade, more than 100 obstacles have been removed, including the Hirst Mill Weir on the River Aire, Stocksbridge Weir on the River Don, and Bowers Mill Weir on the Black Brook, near Halifax.

As part of the next phase of funding, Yorkshire Water said it has secured £11.4 million in investment for the initiative under its environment programme, with an additional £10 million match funding to be targeted through the wider partnership.

The money will support work to open up 500km of river habitat across Yorkshire over the next five years, the organisations said.

Anna Gerring, deputy director for strategy development at The Rivers Trust, said: “Addressing barriers to fish migration may be the key project objective.

“But by tackling this hurdle, we are also delivering an assortment of other benefits, including: improvements to water quality, restoring natural river processes, supporting riparian habitats and the wildlife populations that are reliant on them, promoting biodiversity increase, and enhancing blue spaces for local communities.”

The partnership cited the discovery of salmon parr in the River Don, which can only happen in clean, fresh water, saying the collaborative effort helped to restore the environment that had been damaged from 200 years of industrial harm.

Jenni Balmer, deputy director of nature recovery at the Environment Agency, said: “Fish are environmental indicators of the health of our rivers and lakes.

“And right now, they are under pressure from every direction – water quality, water quantity, and degraded habitats.

“Those pressures are growing. Climate change is bringing warmer waters, non-native species, and fragmented, degraded habitats.”

She said the partnership “represents a template for other water companies to replicate through their own Price Review process to deliver more initiatives across England to address this national challenge”.

Tim Hawkins, director of strategy and regulations at Yorkshire Water, said: “Investment in the environment is a strategic pillar for Yorkshire Water.

“We can’t tackle artificial barriers or recover rivers at scale alone.

“Working in partnership, however, allows us to operate differently, expand our ambitions and collectively we can deliver what’s right for the environment and, ultimately, what is right for our customers too.”

The partnership, known as Great Yorkshire Rivers, has set a target to transform the county’s waterways into thriving ecosystems by 2043, committing to community engagement as well as inclusive, site-specific solutions that respect heritage and community values.

Delivery partners include Aire Rivers Trust, Natural England, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Canal and Rivers Trust.