HARP Update: Water Quality Monitoring on the Ribble and Hodder

Many of you will have seen the early signs of activity around West Bradford on the Ribble and Newton-in-Bowland on the Hodder as work gets under way on the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP). RFCA recently attended a stakeholder meeting hosted by STRABAG, the project’s main contractor, alongside the Hodder Consultative, the Ribble Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency, to hear how water quality will be monitored as construction progresses. Here’s what we learned, and what we’re continuing to press for on behalf of everyone who fishes, walks or cares for our rivers.

You can view STRABAG’s full monitoring plans presentation from the meeting Ribble and Hodder Monitoring Plans 16-06-26 (1)

What is HARP?

HARP is United Utilities’ programme to build a new tunnel and pipeline – the Haweswater Aqueduct – delivering up to 570 million litres of drinking water per day to 2.5 million people, including Manchester. The route crosses both the River Ribble and the River Hodder, with the works at our two key impacted sites – West Bradford (Ribble) and Newton-in-Bowland (Hodder) – forming part of Tunnel Section TR03. The initial phase of construction at both crossings is focused on building haul roads and bridges over the rivers (with no supports placed in the rivers themselves), along with associated earthworks, drainage and outfalls. STRABAG has confirmed that no in-river works or high-vibration activities (such as sheet piling) will take place in or immediately adjacent to either watercourse between October and May, and that all such works will be managed under Environment Agency discharge and flood risk permits.

What monitoring is already in place?

STRABAG confirmed that the following monitoring is already running on both rivers and in the wider catchment:
  • Continuous ('live') sonde monitoring upstream and downstream of both crossing sites, on the main rivers.
  • Quarterly water quality sampling for laboratory analysis – covering pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen – at both sites.
  • Additional quarterly sampling in the wider catchment, including Worston Brook (Ribble) and Foulscales Brook (Hodder).
  • Invertebrate monitoring through the SmartRivers programme, carried out in Spring and Autumn at baseline, upstream and downstream locations on both rivers.

What’s proposed during construction?

For the construction phase, STRABAG has proposed to:
  • Continue live sonde monitoring upstream and downstream on the main rivers, with data continuing to be shared with third parties, including RFCA.
  • Continue quarterly laboratory sampling at current locations, with additional sampling points on tributaries, subject to permit requirements still to be confirmed.
  • Set trigger values for water quality parameters based on the baseline data currently being gathered, using a recognised methodology.
  • Automatically alert STRABAG’s site and environmental teams if a trigger value is exceeded, with stakeholders then notified under STRABAG’s incident management process. Exactly how RFCA and others will be notified is still to be agreed.
Separately, discharges from on-site drainage that could be affected by construction will be monitored live for suspended solids/turbidity and pH, with trigger values set below consented limits. Any deviation will raise an alarm, with shutdown and diversion to storage if a limit is at risk of being exceeded.
SmartRivers invertebrate sampling will continue at both sites in Spring and Autumn – and encouragingly, STRABAG has indicated that local volunteers can be trained by SmartRivers to take part. If that appeals to you, watch this space.

What happens next?

  • Additional sondes will be installed on both rivers this summer, with existing sondes relocated to cover the full extent of the sites. Data access will be briefly interrupted during this work.
  • A follow-up meeting on the emergency response process is planned for August or September, including a site visit to the Hodder works.
  • STRABAG is to confirm public right of way diversions at the Ribble crossing – relevant to walkers as well as anglers.
  • On-site information signposts are being explored, to give the public easy access to project information and a way to report issues or incidents.

RFCA's position

These plans remain at an early stage and will be developed further through the environmental permitting process. RFCA, alongside the Hodder Consultative and the Ribble Rivers Trust, continues to engage with STRABAG and United Utilities to make sure the monitoring is robust and that anglers and the wider catchment community have access to clear, accurate information.

We continue to make the case that any permanent public-facing water quality dashboard for anglers should be commissioned, funded and maintained by STRABAG and United Utilities as part of the project. In the meantime, you can already view live sonde data for the Ribble and Hodder on our website under River Data.

Seen something that doesn’t look right?

If you spot pollution or anything of concern on the river, report it to the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60. Please also submit a report to RFCA through our pollution reporting form on the App, so we can log the incident and follow it up through the right channels.
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