Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:53 pm on 23 November 2016.
Thank you. You are quite right that 37 per cent of all water bodies in Wales achieve ‘good’ or better status, and I aim to increase that, going forward. Natural Resources Wales are targeting their resources to work with land managers and other stakeholders to improve working practices, and that, I think, will bring forward status improvements. You’re right about historical industry and, certainly, since I’ve come into post and had a look—you can see that pollution from abandoned metal mines, for instance, is one of the reasons. But it’s not an excuse and we need to do more, so I’ve given extra funding to Natural Resources Wales to specifically tackle that significant issue, and that’s through the metal mine remediation project. Agricultural pollution is also a significant issue in Wales and, again, in Pembrokeshire, we have a particular problem, so, again, officials are working very closely with NRW and also with the farming community so that we can develop practical and deliverable solutions on this issue.