Too much silt in our rivers can cause a range of costly problems so it’s important to understand where it’s coming from. This is where environmental science begins to resemble detective work and may be why one of iCASP’s core team is taking a break from the programme to work with Yorkshire Water.
Janet Richardson is taking a six month sabbatical to work out where an accumulation of sediment in the Yorkshire River Derwent is coming from and what can be done to stop it.
Increased sedimentation in watercourses is unwelcome for a number of reasons including: increases in water treatment costs, the need to dredge waterways or reservoirs to allay flooding, the loss of recreational areas, and the detrimental impact it can have on fish such as salmon and trout. In her own words, this is what she’s up to:
Efforts to restore Yorkshire’s vast peat bogs will soon be getting a welcome boost, thanks to a new project being developed by the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP).
Launched on July 5th 2017, the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme, managed to generate positive momentum between academics and other experts from the iCASP partner organisations and their networks.