Reference Number: EIR 549

Dear Marie Tidball,

I refer to your request for information submitted to Yorkshire Water dated
1 February 2023.

Please find the data which you have requested. 

1. How many River Don pollution incidents have been reported to Yorkshire
Water between since January 2020? 

2. What categories do these incidents fall into?

3. Is this incident level higher than the previous three year 2016-19
period? Why?

In regard to these requests we can confirm that we are unable to provide a
response to this question/request. The exception under regulation 12(4)(c)
allows a public authority to refuse requests that are formulated in too
general a manner. To find specific areas to enable us to provide the
information you can visit
[1]https://www.yorkshirewater.com/environme...
and use our interactive map. You can then submit a new request and we will
deal with this as a new request.

4. What impact has this had on river species including salmon, which had
been re-colonised in 2019 in partnership with the Environment Agency?

YWS has played a fundamental role in the recovery of salmon in the River
Don.  Our main contribution historically has been the major investment in
water quality, which underpins the recovery. In more recent years our
remit has grown and we have worked more in partnership with the
Environment Agency and the Don Catchment Rivers Trust to address historic
legacy problems such as obstacles to fish passage.  We share a common goal
of returning a self- sustaining population of salmon to the Don.

It is important to recognise that the return of salmon is still at an
early stage and evidence is therefore limited.  So it is difficult to
quantify what, if any, impact pollution incidents will have had on salmon
or other species.  We have no direct evidence of any negative impacts on
salmon and there are increasing reports of salmon seen spawning and
juveniles being caught by anglers. So it would seem that the recovery is
ongoing and moving steadily towards a self-sustaining population as we all
strive for.

5. What measures has Yorkshire Water implemented since January 2019 to
improve water quality and protect species in the River Don?

 1. we continue our programme of improving fish passage on the River Don
and expect to complete the latest fish pass at Niagra weir by this
summer.
 2. We are changing how we release water from our reservoirs to create
more environmentally suitable flows- the main target is Salmonids, but
will also benefit the wider ecology
 3. We fund the Don Catchment Rivers Trust fisheries officer- their role
is to identify opportunities to protect and improve the fishery and
implement measures

I trust that the provision of this data satisfies your request.  In
accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, if you are
not satisfied with this reply to your request you can ask for an internal
review.  A request for an internal review must be submitted within 40
working days by contacting the Data Protection Team.

Thank you for contacting Yorkshire Water.

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection Team

Email: [2][email address]

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References

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1. https://www.yorkshirewater.com/environme...
2. mailto:[Yorkshire Water request email]