The Upper Wharfe.

The Upper Wharfe is a typical example of an upland moorland river. Meandering and carving its way through the rich and internationally appreciated landscape the River Wharfe emerges high on the Yorkshire Dales Moors above Oughtershaw. Fed by many smaller streams and tributaries the Wharfe works its way through a fascinating mix of geology, habitats and scenery, towards Grassington marking the end of the Upper Catchment.

Despite the Upper Wharfe having the potential to support a diverse community of fauna and flora, many sections of the river are failing to achieve Good Ecological Status under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). To try and mitigate some of these issues, the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust have been provided with some funding from the Environment Agency to form the ‘Upper Wharfe River Restoration Project’ to try and help improve the situation.

As typical with other moorland rivers, the River Wharfe is forever changing. This high energy system can rapidly change from furious spates to gentle low flows, eroding and depositing sediment over a relatively short space of time. Therefore the ‘Upper Wharfe River Restoration Project’ will strategically concentrate it’s restoration efforts towards improving the status of the failing water bodies identified by the WFD investigations. At the same time we want to integrate with the local community and interested parties to form a ‘bottom up’ approach to management.

There are a variety of different projects going to be happening on the Upper Wharfe and I shall keep you updated. There will also be some volunteering opportunities. So if you would like to get involved please don’t hesitate to contact me:

Daniel Turner
Upper Wharfe River Restoration Project Officer