aerial photograph of Eller Beck flood defenses & dam , Skipton Yorkshire England UK. Skipton has long been plagued by floods and being a historic town it was not possible to carry out major works in the town centre so this £14 million scheme was designed to hold back flood waters and allow the river to flow at a manageable rate. A 360 meter dam has been constructed across Eller Beck which is bisected by a concrete culvert.In the event of a flood an automatic shutter is lowered to form a temporary reservoir which can hold up to 433,000m3 of water. In the likley event the water level exceeds the reservoir capacity it will overflow via the large concrete spillway prominent in the photograph. The culvert has baffles to slow the flow and help fish swim up stream and even has an otter ledge to help otters navigate the waterway.