Nature First at Yorkshire Water

Nature First is our commitment to invest in nature-based solutions. Our vision is for a thriving region where communities prosper in a flourishing economy. Nature underpins our economy and provides us with services that sustain life. Through protection, management, and restoration of natural ecosystems, we can deliver a resilient service for our customers, mitigating and adapting to climate change while contributing to nature recovery in Yorkshire.

Nature-based solutions address societal challenges through the restoration, management and mimicking of nature, to benefit both biodiversity and people.

Nature-based solutions that enhance the resilience of our catchments and reduce the need for us to invest in new engineered infrastructure are referred to as catchment interventions

We work with landowners across Yorkshire to deliver catchment interventions, for example; restoring peat bogs, supporting regenerative agriculture and implementing natural flood management techniques.

Where we do need to invest in new infrastructure, we can mimic nature by using nature-based assets. For example, we can build wetlands to treat wastewater flows, or use ponds instead of underground storage tanks. Historically, the water sector has relied on concrete and other hard infrastructure to carry out its services, however, we are rapidly acknowledging that nature can offer us a low carbon and climate resilient alternative.

Explore the map below to see where we've invested in catchment interventions and nature-based assets.