Tuesday 11th November, 2025
In October, we published an assessment of the lack of progress made in Wales to resolve agricultural pollution in the past three years.
And specifically, the lack of pace from Welsh Government in forging ahead with the recommended changes to Wales’s control of agricultural pollution regulations made in an independent review in March this year.
Led by Dr. Susannah Bolton, the review’s 23 recommendations were immediately accepted by the Deputy First Minister, a commitment he made again in the Senedd last month.
Salmon and sewin (sea trout) spawning will already be underway in some Welsh rivers. We now know that the implementation of any of Dr. Bolton’s recommendations to improve water quality will come too late for this run of fish, and almost certainly next year’s too.
More delays…
Last week, the plan for taking Dr. Bolton’s recommendations forward was revealed by Welsh Government. Unfortunately, it detailed yet more delays, especially in the implementation of those changes that might make a real difference for rivers.
And for farmers, these additional delays are an issue too. Many of the recommendations were designed to make it easier for them to adhere to the control of agricultural pollution regulations.
The first of Dr. Bolton’s “short term” recommendations was the establishment of a ‘technical task and finish group.’ Its formation is now underway.
The other 22 recommendations are planned in three phases:
Phase 1
This will take place over the next 12-18 months and involve 6 recommendations.
However, much of this phase is focused on easing the burden of the regulations on farmers. The only recommendation that really deals with agricultural pollution is the inclusion of measures to protect soil loss.
This autumn, swathes of countryside across Wales have again been exposed to high risk of runoff through bad land management practice, such as planting maize and fodder crops in inappropriate places.
Stronger regulation on soils cannot come soon enough but even if it is in 12 months’ time (the earliest according to Welsh Government), it will be too late to protect this winter’s salmon and sewin (sea trout) spawning and almost certainly next year’s too. These are species that need urgent action if alarming falls in their numbers are to be reversed.
Phases 2 and 3
Phase 2 will come in 18 months to 3 years and the final phase 3 years + afterwards. They include the other important recommendations for rivers, covering areas such as slurry storage and spreading, buffer strips and data collection.
Imminent improvements in rivers unlikely
These delays to resolving agricultural pollution, together with the Deputy First Minister’s recent statement that changes to water industry regulation will take up to 7 years, could mean that it is unlikely we will see any imminent improvements in water quality in Welsh rivers.
If there are, it probably won’t be due to Government policy but more down to action by individual Welsh farmers who understand the implications of soil loss to their businesses and care about rivers.
Tightening of the regulations would help the large majority of farmers who operate diligently and responsibly by pulling into line the few that don’t. This covering of a manure heap in the Usk catchment actually goes above and beyond the recommendations made by Dr. Bolton.
There is no lack of evidence that agriculture is polluting Welsh rivers. Natural Resources Wales now has evidence that the sector is affecting Wales’s protected marine sites too.
The wheels of Government may turn slowly. But Dr Bolton’s measures need to be implemented at pace if we are serious about resolving the wide-ranging problems affecting water quality, biodiversity and the decline of species such as the Atlantic salmon in Wales.
It is likely that the task and finish group will be the only one of the recommendations to be fully implemented before the Senedd elections next spring, over a year since the report.
Glacial progress aside, perhaps the most concerning aspect is that whatever Welsh Government comes next, there are no guarantees that changes to improve the control of agricultural pollution regulations will receive the same kind of commitment given by the current Deputy First Minister, or that their implementation will hasten.