The Wye and Usk Rivers

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 21 June 2022.

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Photo of Laura Anne Jones Laura Anne Jones Conservative 2:09, 21 June 2022

Thank you, First Minister. It's good to see that a local MS, Peter Fox, also put a question in regarding rivers today, just reinforcing how important this issue is to our local community. First Minister, last weekend, I attended the march outlined by Peter Fox to save our river, alongside local campaigner Angela, local councillors, residents, anglers, dogs, my own family and many local children, all of whom enjoy our river, just showing the strength of feeling that there is on this issue. First Minister, I've grown up next to—playing in and fishing in—the River Usk, and now I take my children down to the river and we see more pollution, fewer fish and large amounts of green algae growing. It's desperately sad to see its rapid decline.

It was a very welcome announcement by Welsh Water, as you've outlined already, of £10 million funding that will be invested in the Usk to improve the water treatment works, and in the combined storm overflow—an investment that desperately was needed for a variety of reasons: to save biodiversity, wildlife and decreasing fish numbers. But, First Minister, you've, in part, answered my question already earlier on the river management and our regulatory framework that's in place, and, of course, I welcome, very much so, as the river management is in your jurisdiction, that you've taken this on board and listened to the UK Government and what they're doing under the new environment Bill, and replicating some of these things, and you'll now be piloting on a non-statutory basis, as you've outlined, hoping that that becomes statutory in 2024. We would welcome that. We need to get a grip on this issue before our rivers die.

First Minister, I'm sure you'll agree with me that we need to get a grip also on the sewage system. We've seen significant investment—