Don, Dearne and Rother Network
- Catchment HostDon Catchment Rivers Trust
- River Basin DistrictHumber
- Management CatchmentDon and Rother
- Management Catchment ID3029
Catchment partnership vision
Our vision is to see healthy, resilient rivers for nature and people. Our rivers will provide good habitat and species will thrive in improving water quality. Our rivers will continue to claim back natural processes. Our rivers will be resilient. Land and asset management will actively contribute to the functioning and quality of our rivers. We will work towards a catchment scale programme of natural flood management. Our rivers will be assets to communities. They will contribute to a sense of place and improved health and wellbeing.
Related websites
Find out more about the activities and ambitions of this catchment partnership and how you can get involved to help improve the water environment in the catchment.
Catchment challenges
Current challenges identified by partnership
Physical modifications
Fish passage restricted by past industrial structures and fragmented habitats prevent fish reaching spawning grounds
Pollution from waste water
Increased frequency and severity of storm events cause an increase in combined sewer outfall discharges
Pollution from agriculture and rural areas
Agricultural practices lead to chemical and nutrient run off and soil erosion in upper reaches
Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership
Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
It is important to support Local Nature Recovery Networks at a catchment scale to encourage a truly joined-up approach
Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
Working towards more sustainable land management by supporting the agricultural sector is important, particularly to protect and improve soil health
Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents
Working more collaboratively with utility companies and industry going forwards will be important to help tackle issues around storm overflows
Connecting communities with nature
Helping to connect our communities to our river corridors can have multiple benefits for health and wellbeing, particularly in urban areas
Removing plastics/litter from the water environment
Frequent occurrences of littering and fly-tipping in rivers is ongoing, which impacts both water quality and flood risk, we must work to tackle this
Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change
Working with natural processes to build resilience and adaption to climate change is increasingly important and provides cost effective solutions
Future challenges predicted by partnership
Physical modifications
Making improvements to the catchment to recover from our industrial past will still be important in the future, we will continue to look for opportunities to enhance our rivers
Pollution from waste water
We must continue to work with the relevant partners going forwards to make improvements and reduce wastewater pollution occurrences
Pollution from agriculture and rural areas
The agricultural and rural land management sector is changing and will face additional climate pressures, collaborative working will be important in the future
Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency
Future challenges in 2050
- Invasive Non-native Species
- Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
- Pollution from waste water
Emerging challenges
- Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
- Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
- Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas
Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021
Successes since 2016 include:
- river habitats have improved and absent species are now regularly found in the catchment: Atlantic Salmon and Otters have been sighted in urban areas
- invasive non-native species are being managed at a more strategic level
- major barriers to fish migration have been tackled
- 16 fish passage solutions have been installed on weirs on the main Don, allowing migration to first available spawning grounds
- weirs have been removed or passed on tributaries
- re-meandering has taken place on sections of river, along with washland creation and de-culverting
- land management projects have reconnected floodplains and engaged landowners to improve practice
- several multi benefit projects have taken place on farm land in upper catchments
- the largest retro-fit sustainable drainage system (SUDs) scheme has taken place in Sheffield, with commitments from local authorities to make SUDs a key part of the planning process
- natural flood management is now an important strand of work, localised flash flooding has been dealt with in upper catchments using leaky dams, woody debris and gulley stuffing
- in the Upper Rother catchment work has been informed by Integrated Catchment Solutions Project (iCASP) opportunity mapping
- community engagement has been a key area of growth across the catchment
- across all priorities volunteer involvement in the catchment has increased - more land owners have been engaged, including farmers and land holding organisations
- increased engagement with the agricultural sector, leading to the formation of a faming cluster in the Dearne Valley area.
Partnership development plans
We will strengthen engagement with the Catchment Based Approach and expand the number and type of partners contributing to our catchment partnership. The network will develop catchment scale projects, completed by partnerships. We will attract and diversify funding income to the catchment partnership itself. We will promote a more public facing role for the catchment partnership, by creating key messaging about catchment issues that communities and members of the public can contribute to.
Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027
Confident
Enhancement/no deterioration measures in 2020-2025 Water Industry National Environment Programme
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage point source discharges
- Delivery mechanism
- Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
- Location
- Don and Rother
Confident
Rotherham Rivers 3 - mitigating impacts of physical modification in lower Rother heavily modified for flood protection
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
- Location
- Rother, Doe Lea to Don
Confident
Source to Sea - catchment wide nature based solutions to reduce flood risk, diffuse pollution and improve habitats
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
- Location
- Don and Rother
Confident
Poolsbrok Flood Reservoir decommission - river restoration, weir removal and wetland habitat creation
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA asset capital investment
- Location
- Doe Lea from Source to Hawke Brook
Confident
Dearne Valley Green Heart - ongoing multi partnership project improving river habitats and reducing diffuse pollution
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
- Location
- Dearne
Less certain
Houghton River Restoration - mitigate physical modification for flood protection and fish passage at major weir
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
- Barriers to delivery
- Large external funding contribution required
- Location
- Dearne from Lundwood to River Dove
Less certain
Putting the Sheaf back in to Sheffield - opening of Sheaf culvert creating public space for urban regeneration
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
- Barriers to delivery
- Large external funding contribution required
- Location
- Sheaf from Source to River Don
Less certain
River Don phase 2 Fish Highway - extending range and resilience for return of Salmon to River Don
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
- Barriers to delivery
- Partner capacity and external funding
- Location
- Don Upper
Less certain
Blackburn Brook Restoration - river habitat project in heavily modified urban waterbody
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
- Barriers to delivery
- Landowner agreements
- Location
- Blackburn Brook from Source to River Don
Less certain
Sheaf and Porter Restoration - river habitat project in heavily modified urban waterbody
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
- Barriers to delivery
- Landowner/developer agreements
- Location
- Porter from Source to River Sheaf Sheaf from Source to River Don
Less certain
Barnsley Gauge Fish Passage - fish passage on River Dearne enabling return of Salmon
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- EA asset capital investment
- Barriers to delivery
- Securing funding and technical issues on constrained site
- Location
- Dearne from Cawthorne Dyke to Lundwood STW
Wider water environment
Little Don Highways natural flood management; soil aeration and river buffer protection to reduce soil poaching
- Reason for measure
- Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
- Delivery mechanism
- Highways England Programme
- Location
- Don Upper
Wider water environment
All hands on the Don; improve access to rivers and celebrating heritage, to help connect communities with nature
- Reason for measure
- Connecting communities with nature
- Delivery mechanism
- Heritage Lottery Fund
- Location
- Don Lower
Wider water environment
Friends of the Don Valley way; a regular litter picking and river clean up volunteer group
- Reason for measure
- Removing plastics/litter from the water environment
- Delivery mechanism
- Other philanthropic/charitable/trust funds
- Location
- Don Middle
Catchment Partnership contributors
Partners involved in the creation of this page and the actions of the partnership:
- Don Catchment Rivers Trust
- Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust
- River Stewardship Company
- Sheffield City Council
- Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
- Dearne Valley Green Heart Partnership
- Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
- Natural England
- Yorkshire Water
- National Trust
- Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust
- Woodland Trust
- Canal & River Trust
- Environment Agency