BBC Countryfile will soon air a piece on the River Nidd in Knaresborough to highlight the efforts from campaigners to improve the quality of the Yorkshire river and to ensure that it is safe for all.
An innovative interactive signage, funded by the Environment Agency, will be one of the main focus areas for the Countryfile programme. Local campaigners, such as David Clayden, the chair of the Nidd Action Group, hopes that this ‘Hello Lamp Post’ project, using a QR code to access information, will provide a continuous system to allow people to report pollution and receive information about the local river conditions and situation.
Community-driven technology boosts River Nidd pollution monitoring
This project allows for ‘conversations’ between the public and the Nidd Action Group and the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, with some preliminary information coming in over the last few months, indicating that the project was successful, but that ‘lamposts’ at different sites could be tweaked to be more specific to meet the needs of the public.
The Nidd Action Group notes that, “more than 400 ‘conversations’ were held with citizens, and it was clear that from the responses to pre-set questions: river health was important to citizens; 45% were not aware that the river is underground in places; and 58% don’t feel informed about wastewater”.
Clayden also hopes that the Countryfile coverage will help draw more attention to riverfly monitoring (checking the diversity and concentration of invertebrate life in the Nidd), as well as the quality of the water for popular wild swimming in the River Nidd, which has a long history for residents and visitors alike.
Bathing waters in Yorkshire
Clayden noted that, “The Knaresborough Lido, as a designated bathing water, is routinely sampled for E. Coli every week during the bathing season. Of the 12 measurements taken this season so far, seven fit the current POOR quality in terms of human health (particularly now the ‘dry’ spell seems to be over)”. He continued, “This is a consistent pattern for all designated inland bathing waters – they start POOR and remain POOR, with little chance of improving to SUFFICIENT, let alone GOOD or EXCELLENT”.
He argued that European inland waters have managed to make improvements and hoped that this new national coverage from the BBC will put pressure on the government to choose the correct recommendations to implement the important changes which will make a difference to the water quality both in the Nidd and nationally.
An end to river pollution in Yorkshire?
Tom Gordon, the local MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, told Yorkshire Bylines:
“I’m delighted that BBC Countryfile is shining a spotlight on the River Nidd and the incredible work of the Nidd Action Group. I met with David Clayden in Parliament last month, and their tireless efforts to hold Yorkshire Water to account are an inspiration.
“Since the election, I’ve campaigned relentlessly to clean up our rivers and stop the sewage scandal. The Liberal Democrats have long called for Ofwat to be scrapped and replaced with a tough new regulator that will finally put the environment and local communities first.
“Our rivers are a vital part of Yorkshire’s natural heritage, and this programme will help drive the public pressure and political action we need to end pollution once and for all.”
Yorkshire Water commits millions to improve River Nidd quality
David Clayden, the Nidd Action Group chair, praised the efforts of Yorkshire Water’s strategies in investing for the future of the river.
“Yorkshire Water has an ambitious investment plan for the Nidd over the next five years, and they show signs of working with local citizen scientists and environmental organisations. The Environment Agency, working under DEFRA, has a gigantic task in keeping up with the changes proposed with unclear legislation and guidance and inadequate resources.”
Yorkshire Water highlighted their efforts and investment plans for the River Nidd, telling Yorkshire Bylines:
“We care deeply about river water quality and continue to be actively supportive of the River Nidd at the Lido achieving bathing water status. We’re working hard to improve our impact on the river through a number of significant investments, and by working in partnership with groups like the Nidd Action Group, the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, and Dales to Vales River Network, alongside the council and the EA.
“Over the next five years, we will be investing over £10mn across all of the storm overflows within 5km of the Lido, and three more further upstream to reduce the number of discharges. We’re also currently underway with a £7.5mn scheme to reduce the amount of phosphorous going into the via Knaresborough treatment works.
“River quality can be impacted by many different sources beyond storm overflow discharges, such as agriculture or misconnections, and we are working with stakeholders to identify these so that we can collectively and holistically understand where efforts need to be targeted to improve river quality.
“This includes conducting a full investigation of the catchment to identify the sources of bacteria at the Lido and building a catchment model to understand how the river interacts with the surrounding landscape and environmental conditions. We’re also trialling approaches to locating and tackling private misconnections, which are already successfully highlighting issues, and are stepping up our support for citizen science projects.
“Across Yorkshire more broadly, we will be investing £1.5bn in reducing discharges from storm overflows, and £350mn in reducing the amount of phosphorous entering rivers via wastewater treatment sites.”
Yorkshire Water pointed towards their own targets over the next ten years to help improve the river and bathing water.
“All overflows within 5km of the bathing water sample point are receiving investment over the next five years. This is to meet the Environment Act Target for 2035 five years earlier than the statutory requirement (completion by 2030), for these overflows to discharge no more than 10 times per year and once during the bathing season (May–Sept).”
Legal rights for rivers?
This targeted improvement would be welcomed by the Nidd Action Group. Clayden himself urged that the health of rivers and waterways underpins human activities both on, and near, the water and that moves to establish legal personhood on rivers would therefore be a welcome step in their protection.
“There has been considerable interest internationally in establishing a legal basis for rivers as ‘living entities’, in that their health underpins so many human activities – we rely on them being healthy!”
BBC Countryfile: John Craven’s Heritage Yorkshire – The River Nidd airs on Sunday 17 August, 2025, at 6.20pm.
