Yorkshire Water has been praised by Yorkshire MEP Linda McAvan for its pioneering 'world-leading' work to restore huge swathes of damaged moorland and protect its drinking water quality through sustainable water catchment management.

Ms McAvan, who is part of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, met with Yorkshire Water officials at Snailsden reservoir, near Holmfirth, to see for herself how the restoration work has benefitted some of Yorkshire's most iconic landscapes.

Prior to work at the site, the peatland around the reservoir had fallen into poor condition, largely as a result of air pollution, intensive farming practices and wild fires.

However, as part of Yorkshire Water's moorland restoration programme, which the company began back in 2003, almost 30,000 acres of land registered as having Site of Special Scientific Interest status, including the area around Snailsden, are now in recovering condition.

The work at Snailsden saw drainage channels - created Post-Second World War by local farmers to remove water from moorland to make it more productive - blocked to slow the flow of water through the land and help keep the moorland, and the peat it contains, wetter for longer which is essential for its good health.

In addition, the work has supported the growth of sphagnum moss boosting the ecosystem and helping to further enhance biodiversity in the area. The project has also boosted peatland reserves in the region, which serve as some of the largest natural carbon reservoirs in the UK.

The company believes that addressing the poor health of a number of peatland sites located within its water catchment areas will help to arrest the decline it has seen in the purity and quality of water reaching some of its most significant reservoirs.

The decline in water purity is thought to be as a direct result of the increasing degradation of surrounding peatland areas as it becomes increasingly dry and fragmented, which has led to rainwater picking up more break-away debris on its reservoir bound journey.

As a result, the company was increasingly finding itself spending more and more money and time treating the highly coloured water entering a number of its major works, with no prospect of the problem abating in the near future.

Yorkshire Water said this was another reason why it made perfect sense to tackle the root of the problem, rather than seeking a costly cure by building more treatment stages at its works.

Linda McAvan said:

"The work Yorkshire Water has put into the restoration of the moorland is really valuable. It is not just the purity of our water that is being improved. By helping to restore peatlands, an increasingly rare habitat that is under threat in other parts of the UK, is being protected. Protecting peat bogs, which act as a carbon store, is also an important part of our strategy to combat climate change. This project is already seeing impressive results and will hopefully let our peatlands prosper once more."

Lisa Harrowsmith, Yorkshire Water's senior rural surveyor, added:

"Yorkshire Water's restoration work has brought about a number of massive benefits including reviving often iconic landscapes and significantly boosting local biodiversity.

"It has also helped to significantly improve water quality as keeping the moors wetter for longer helps to reduce colour loss and ensures peat remains where it belongs on the moors and not in local rivers and reservoirs.

"And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Catchment management is a long-term process and the real impact will become clear over decades rather than in the short term."