ABSTRACT
West Yorkshire had been experiencing below-average rainfall throughout the winter of 1994/1995 and by the beginning of the summer of 1995 reservoirs were not even half their usual depth and rivers were beginning to run dry. The Regional Water Company, Yorkshire Water, responsible for providing clean water to 1.5 million customers in the area, experienced great difficulty meeting demand. By October 1995 things were so bad that customers were implored to save water, trial standpipes were erected and unprecedented water rationing was threatened (Harrison, 1996). Local businesses and schools were even being asked to evacuate the most severely affected areas and relocate elsewhere! The health and livelihood of the people in the region were being threatened. So, too, was the local aquatic environment. The water industry’s environmental regulator, the Environment Agency, along with local fishermen and naturalists, were highly concerned about the impact that low water levels and associated poor water quality were having on local wildlife, particularly on fish stocks.
