Farnley storm lake to be drained for scheduled maintenance

Yorkshire Water is set to drain Farnley storm lake to allow maintenance work to take place.

The £50,000 project, which includes dam maintenance, will begin on Monday, 1 February and will be completed by Yorkshire Water’s partner Stonbury.

The work is expected to take four weeks to complete. The footpath running alongside Tong Road will be closed during the work to allow it to be carried out safely. The project is weather dependent so heavy rain may increase the time to complete the work.

Prior to the start of work an independent fish ecology survey has been conducted and fish present in the lake will be caught, kept safe and returned to the watercourses that lead to the lake once work is completed.

Signs will be erected to warn people of the dangers of entering the lake while it has been drained due to deep mud remaining in the lake.

Andrew Constantine, reservoir supervising engineer at Yorkshire Water, said: “The maintenance work planned for Farnley storm lake will ensure it continues to play its part protecting the local area from flooding.

“We have conducted a fish ecology survey and will be rescuing the fish from the lake. They will be reintroduced further upstream and will work their way back into the lake once work has been completed.”