New drive to improve Wales' water environment

Plans to protect and improve Wales’ water environment over the next six years have been published.

The proposals, known as River Basin Management Plans, have been pulled together by Natural Resources Wales.

They outline the steps that need to be taken in the next six years to makes Wales’ rivers, streams and lakes better places for wildlife and people.

The plans also consider Wales’ waterbodies as part of the wider environment and actions proposed in the plan will improve the resilience of ecosystems and deliver multiple benefits.

For example, this will include improving land management in the uplands can have significant benefits in climate change resilience, carbon capture, flood storage and improved downstream water quality.

This is exactly what the Welsh Government wanted Natural Resources Wales to do as it passed the Environment Bill.

The plans say the main challenges to improving water quality are:

• reducing the effects of sewage effluent

• preventing pollution from industrial estates

• dealing with metal mine water

• advising on good land management

• addressing major pressures on the water environment including over-abstraction of water