A STATEMENT from the Church in Wales has described as “helpful” the Welsh Government’s response last week to recommendations made at the November 2024 summit on improving river health and water quality in Wales.
The Restoring Welsh Rivers summit, hosted by the Church in Wales, brought together more than 90 scientists, farmers, environmentalists, and water industry representatives, and fulfilled the expressed hope of the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andrew John, that it would seek to create “a consensus and momentum for change” (News, 8 November 2024).
Welsh Water is known to have spilled untreated sewage into Welsh rivers on 115,000 occasions, in 2023, totalling one million hours. Approximately 40 plants for waste-water treatment in the Cardigan area had been found to be operating in breach of their permits, and sewage was spilled into Cardigan Bay 200 times that year.
At the Church’s Governing Body meeting in April last year, the Archbishop called for a halt on the “indefensible abuse” of waterways, poisoned by the illegal pumping of raw sewage (19 April 2024).
“Our rivers are dying,” he said. “And, even as sections of our farming communities are underpaid and undervalued, intensive farming practices, promoted by unsustainable food production systems, are poisoning rivers with excess fertiliser and animal waste. All of us — including the industry, regulators, Government, and local authorities — must play a part in halting this indefensible abuse of the most essential element of life.”
The Archbishop was praised by the chief executive of River Action, James Wallace, for his “leadership and visionary foresight and insistence on working together. It is exactly what we need.”
The First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, attended part of the summit, and invited it to submit a list of key actions to the Welsh government. It made five recommendations: using nature-based solutions to reduce pollution at its source; introducing agricultural regulations to prevent harmful run-off; strengthening the enforcement of environmental regulation; encouraging collaboration between communities, farmers, and local authorities to manage river basins; and raising public awareness to drive local action.
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, describes the suggestions for better slurry management, stricter financial controls, and financial incentives for a regenerative farming as “valuable”. These would be considered in conjunction with existing measures being considered.
The letter emphasises: “Protecting our water environment is a top priority. The proposal for increased funding and staffing for Natural Resources Wales, along with the use of advanced technologies and monitoring, will be reviewed to see how they align with our current enforcement strategies.
“In the interim since the event, we’ve committed over £40 million from 2022 to 2025 with an additional £16 million in February to tackle water quality issues across Wales.
“The Welsh government is dedicated to achieving long term river health, but success requires collaboration from all parties, including regulators developers farmers and communities. . . Only by working together can we tackle the multiple threats facing our rivers.
“We remain committed to raising our ambition and delivering meaningful outcomes in this area. The Welsh Government’s river summits are the platform for getting the key people with the power to make a difference around the table.”
In a response to the letter, the Church in Wales says that it is “grateful to receive such a helpful response to this pressing issue and looks forward to working with the Welsh Government, with statutory agencies, charitable partners and other stakeholders in helping restore the rivers of Wales to full health”.
