Agenda item

We received a report regarding the latest activities to help restore the River Wye.

In doing so, the following information was noted:

·          Herefordshire Council has published the tender for the production of the Wye Catchment Management Plan. The Council has also taken up the secretariat of the Wye Catchment Partnership.

·          At the recent Wye Catchment Partnership evidence was presented that the main drivers of algal blooms in the River Wye are Flow rates (water quantity) and water temperature (weather/climate change) with nutrients being lesser drivers, with nitrates more so than phosphates.

·          The Wye & Usk Foundation is working with a range of partners and funders to develop Catchment Land & Ecosystem Approach for Resilience (CLEAR) to deliver systematic changes that will restore soils and water flows, reducing floods and helping the rural economy and ecology thrive.

·          Herefordshire Rural Hub has been piloting a Wye Nutrient Balance programme with Farm Herefordshire members, helping identify and reduce farm nutrient imports and exports, while feeding into further research, knowledge sharing and business support.

·          Trials of Water Crowfoot drone filming along the Wye during August produced some good results, to be developed for a wider survey next year.

·          Friends of the River Wye ‘Big Ranunculus Watch’ generated more than 90 responses since launching in July.

·          DEFRA and Welsh Government are refining the £1million research programme for the Wye to be tendered early in 2026.

·          ‘Forest to Sea - A Vision and Strategic Action Plan for water in the Forest of Dean’ is being finalised for public consultation by Severn Vale Catchment Partnership in collaboration with the Wye Valley National Landscape Team.

·          The Wyescapes – food, nature, water -  programme is reaching the final stages of preparation before submitting proposal to DEFRA early in 2026.

·          The Diffuse Water Pollution Plan (DWPP) for England and the Welsh Evidence is due to be published shortly, to feed into the review of the Catchment Management Plan.

·          In November Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Herefordshire Council and the Forest Forum are all hosting conferences on rivers and water quality.

·         Possibly the largest legal claim over environmental pollution in the UK has been filed at the High Court challenging three companies over river pollution in the Wye and Usk catchments.

Recent scientific research has revealed that phosphates and nitrates, previously thought to be the main drivers of toxic algal blooms in the River Wye, are not the primary cause. Instead, climate change factors such as rising water temperatures and reduced river flow are now understood to be the key contributors to these ecological problems.

Legal actions, such as the Leigh Day case, are addressing historic pollution issues, but these cases do not necessarily help move forward with practical solutions. While companies like Avara and Welsh Water have acknowledged past problems and invested in improvements. Welsh Water is committing around £50 million to upgrade treatment plants. The emphasis now is on collaborative, forward-looking approaches. Many stakeholders, including the Wye and Usk Foundation, are working on catchment-based strategies to reduce flood peaks and improve water retention in upstream areas. This involves engaging landowners to adopt practices that make land more absorbent, thereby reducing runoff and mitigating flooding downstream.

Future plans include installing monitoring systems on tributaries to identify problem areas and target interventions effectively. Additionally, there are discussions about managing water abstraction and reservoir releases to maintain river levels and control temperature, which is critical for species like salmon. Overall, the focus is shifting toward integrated catchment management, climate adaptation, and partnership-driven solutions to restore the health of the River Wye.

We noted the report.