The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee published its report on Water Quality in Rivers this week.
Its findings are damning, concluding that there is a ‘chemical cocktail of sewage, slurry and plastic polluting English rivers’. Whilst the report repeatedly features the River Wye, there is no reference to other rivers in Wales because this is a report focusing on England only.
Yet, the picture for Welsh rivers is broadly similar with all the same pressures. Wales therefore deserves the same commitment and the same investigations as England.
Afonydd Cymru is calling for a similar independent audit of all rivers in Wales, and we expect many of the recommendations reached by the Environmental Audit Committee to be equally applicable in Wales. Our rivers deserve a step-change in regulation, enforcement and delivery if we are to make a difference.
Click here to view the report.