Hello and welcome to the first North Lakes Futurescape blog post. I will be blogging from now on alongside Amy Hannan. Together we’ll be sharing the things we love about the work we do in the northern part of the world famous Lake District National Park.
If you’ve ever visited the Lake District I bet you experienced a wet day or two. One thing we usually have in abundance is rain. It provides the source of much of the water used by homes and businesses across the north west of England. Late last year we took our long standing partnership with United Utilities (UU) to a whole new level. We took over the tenancies of two of its farms around the reservoir at Haweswater. We’ve got a great farmer, Richard, who’s managing the farm for us. We want to show others how an upland farm can produce high quality lamb, provide homes for nature and improve the quality of the water running into the reservoir. As part of our work at Haweswater, I recently joined a few colleagues to follow the water from source to tap. John, the biodiversity guru at UU, and his technical colleagues showed us the steps. Standing on the Haweswater dam I was hit by its huge scale and strength – it holds back 4 miles of water in the reservoir. I watched the water gushing in from the fell. There had been a lot of rain the day before and the water colour could have come from a scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No one wants a glass of brown water even if it is safe to drink! So UU spends a lot of time removing the particles that create the colour in its water treatment works.
After a quick tour of a pumping station that makes sure there is enough water flowing to meet any surges in demand from people in Manchester, we took a short drive to UU’s largest water treatment centre. It only took us 30 minutes to get there from the reservoir, but it takes a drop of water around 8 hours to travel there through an underground aqueduct. Here the hard work begins to get the water clean and safe enough to drink. It passes through baffles and filters again and again before chlorine is added and the crystal clear water wends its way along gravity fed pipes to homes and businesses in Cumbria, Lancashire, Manchester and beyond. This is what is taken out of the water following its journey from the fells!
It became clear to me that day why UU is investing £5million into changes on farms and in land management to improve the quality of water before it hits the reservoir. If changes don’t happen at source, and the water turns a darker brown UU will need to improve its water treatment works. The price tag for this will be far in excess of £5million. So our work to stabilise the soils and peat and to slow down water as it flows across the land should help to reduce the amount of sediment that is picked up by the water, and the brown colour it causes. At the same time the work will create more and better places for wildlife.
So if you love the Lake District like I do, next time you visit and admire the vastness of the lakes, the roar of the streams and expanse of the fells, rest awhile and take in its nature and cultural traditions. Then sit back and enjoy a glass of water and some roast lakeland lamb knowing that it may have come from a farm that is providing more homes for nature and cleaner water in our lakes and rivers.
Jenny