Data released today by Environment Agency Wales shows that the quality of water in rivers in Wales continues to improve.
Figures from the Environment Agency’s annual General Quality Assessment (GQA) show that 95 per cent of rivers in Wales, achieved ‘good’ or ‘very good’ status in terms of chemical water quality in 2007, up from 86 per cent in 1990.
The biological quality of rivers also continued to improve with 87 per cent of rivers in Wales achieving ‘very good’ or ‘good’ status last year, up from 79 per cent in 1990.
Nationally important rivers like the Taff, Ely, Tawe and Cefni have improved dramatically over the last 20 years primarily due to substantial investments from water companies in sewage treatment.
Through its involvement in Ofwat’s current Periodic Review of water charges, Environment Agency Wales will seek to ensure that water company investment continues so that water quality continues to improve to meet future challenges such as those posed by climate change. The water companies submitted draft business plans for 2010-2015 in August and the Environment Agency will be publishing its response to these in early October.
Environment Agency Wales has also worked closely with farmers and other partners to tackle agricultural pollution resulting in water quality improvements in rivers across rural Wales.
For the first time this year under the EU Water Framework Directive a new and tougher method is being used to classify the ecological health of water, as well as the water quality itself.
The new assessments focus on the ecological health of waters. Up to 37 measures of water quality, such as the health of fish, river insects and plants, are scrutinised and the grading of each river is set by the measure which scores the lowest result. Under this new, more stringent, system, 26 per cent of rivers in Wales are classed as ‘good’ or ‘high’, 50 per cent ‘moderate’, 16 per cent ‘poor’ and less than nine per cent ‘bad’. In most cases the reason for failing to achieve ‘good’ status was failing to meet just one of the 37 measures. This means that by taking action to improve a single indicator many more rivers will achieve ‘good’ status.
Chris Mills, Environment Agency Wales’ Director said:
“The water quality in Wales has improved dramatically over the last 20 years. The Water Framework Directive gives us new ways of measuring the health and quality of water, and importantly focuses on the fish, insect, fish and plant life in our rivers.
“We will use this data to improve the water environment, meet new challenges such as climate change, and balance the use of water for economic and social purposes with the needs of the environment.
“None of the previous major improvements in water quality have been lost. The new classification enables us to take more targeted action to improve the ecological status and water quality even further.”
The new Water Framework Directive classification forms the basis of the Environment Agency’s draft River Basin Management Plans, which will set out how we will achieve further improvements to the water environment from 2009 to 2015. The draft plans will be published on December 22nd, 2008, for public consultation. The Environment Agency will be encouraging all interested parties to engage with the draft plan relevant to their local area..