Save The Wye Coalition

MANIFESTO FOR THE WYE With the general election due 4 July, today we unveil our urgent plan to #SavetheWye. This has been created by our network of local groups and is based on the best scientific understanding of the problems the river faces. 🧵 👉wyemanifesto.org

River Wye granted rights in UK first that could help in fight against pollution @guardian “The entire catchment of the River Wye has been formally recognised as a living ecosystem with intrinsic rights in a charter, a UK first that campaigners hope will help save the highly polluted river” Wonderful news theguardian.com/environment/20…

The River Wye has become the first river in the UK to claim cross-border rights from source to sea - a landmark declaration that rivers are not drains for pollution, but living ecosystems worthy of protection, respect, and a legal voice. @SaveTheWye @RiverActionUK

"The entire catchment of the River Wye has been formally recognised as a living ecosystem with intrinsic rights in a charter, a UK first that campaigners hope will help save the highly polluted river." theguardian.com/environment/20…

The launch of The River Wye Charter - a joyous event with a dedicated group of people who all love the catchment & want it to prosper. Very happy to represent Border Oak & other small local builders & individuals and to pledge charter support from the The River Arrow Trust

An historic day, as the River Wye becomes the first river in the UK to have its rights recognised by local authorities across its catchment. Hundreds of people gathered on the banks of the river to watch as representatives from Monmouthshire, Forest of Dean & Powys Councils, Herefordshire County Council, the Wye Valley National Landscape & Bannau Brycheiniog National Park signed the pledge recognising the rivers rights and then spoke about why they had done so what it would mean for the relationship of their organisation to the river. It went beyond legal formalities into something of a service of thanks & honour to the river, with poetry, a choir singing songs, & offerings to the river. It has been a real honour to witness & be part of the surging movement towards river rights & guardianship on the Wye. Four years ago I met & advised Herefordshire Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, who wanted to put a voice of the river on the Wye Nutrient Management Board. A year ago I sat around a fire on the banks of the river with other Wye guardians & Earth lawyers as the idea of a charter was first mooted. To see it become a reality, & supported by 6 public bodies, in just a year is astonishing. Now, of course, comes the hard work of making those rights a reality. But given the hundreds of active river guardians, & increasing public pressure to protect & restore the river, if it can be done on any river, it will be done on the Wye.

Beautiful and informative interview on BBC Today with Robert Macfarlane and Dr Louise Bodnar, Voice of the River Wye, ahead of the Rights of the River Wye charter launch tomorrow in Hay on Wye. Listen from 13.40 minutes: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

This is the beautiful River Wye on the Welsh borders. Once one of the most famous Salmon rivers in Britain. Yet another river suffering increased levels of pollution. The Environment Agency is next to useless.

'Without doubt, there is a crisis' - council backs Wye charter ift.tt/jy2rcNn

Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are the only organisations that can enforce environmental legislation. It must be their priority!

The next time some tells you that the regulators, the EA and Ofwat don't have the power call them out on it, it's a lie. One example right here... 👇👇👇 don't accept the lie, don't accept the fraud, enforce the law.

🌊 CPRE Herefordshire endorses @FriendsUpperWye's new Riverside Code — a practical guide for everyone using the Wye. Anglers, paddlers, swimmers, walkers, dog-walkers — read it. Share it. Use it. 🔗 friendsoftheriverwye.org.uk/riverside-code #RiverWye #SaveTheWye

Environment Agency inaction is a national scandal. On the Wye and many other rivers agricultural pollution is the most significant factor in worsening water quality. When will the EA enforce the law and protect our rivers? @SaveTheWye @RiverActionUK @GeorgeMonbiot

Huge congratulations to @alisoncaffyn, member of River Action’s Advisory Board, who was invited to this year’s Royal Garden Party in recognition of her tireless work exposing pollution in the River Wye - and championing cleaner, healthier rivers across the UK. 🌿💧 Thank you, Alison. This recognition is so richly deserved. 👏

£215 fine for 1,600 dead fish. Why bother putting any effort or investment into safe slurry handling if a prosecution ends with such a small fine!

“Don't swim' at 12 of 14 river bathing sites, as more locations announced.” Here’s something to wrap your head around. The only stretch of river graded as ‘Good’ is at Friars Meadow, Sudbury yet from 13th March to the 13th April Anglian Water dumped sewage into Friars Meadow nonstop 24 hours a day for 31 days straight. If you went swimming there during the Easter holidays you were probably swimming in human waste but none of it shows in the data because the EA don’t even bother testing until the middle of May. PS the EA don’t actually test any bathing site in the country for most of the year 7 and a half months in fact. You go swimming between 1st Oct one year and 15th May the next you’re on your own. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

£215 for causing an entirely avoidable serious pollution. Some deterrent that! Much cheaper to take risks and pollute.

Where do citizen scientists come from? Not from under rocks or the roots of river grasses. They’re trained. Image from our Riverfly training session this morning. We are extending our volunteer-led data collection into freshwater biological monitoring. People power 😁🧐💦

Today marks the official start of the bathing water season in England - but a designated bathing water is no guarantee that a river is safe to swim in. We fully support bathing water designations and the communities fighting to secure them for their local rivers and coastlines. These sites help shine a spotlight on water quality. However, designation alone does not make our rivers safe. Last year, the Environment Agency rated all but 2 of England’s 14 designated river bathing waters as “poor”. Despite legal obligations, water companies continue to pollute rivers, putting public health and wildlife at risk. This is the result of a broken system driven by: 💷 chronic underinvestment by privatised water companies 🚜 pollution from industrial-scale agriculture ⚖️ weak enforcement by regulators Until the Government ends the era of private profit before public benefit, water quality will continue to fall short - regardless of how many bathing waters are designated. #RescueOurRivers

A six-point charter recognising the rights of the River Wye and calling for action to restore its environmental health could be formally adopted next week nation.cymru/news/councillo…

@RussellB1ggs @UnderwaterMedia @GaywoodRiver @HereBeProof @WindrushWasp Beautiful

@UnderwaterMedia @SaveTheWye @GaywoodRiver @HereBeProof @WindrushWasp 😍

Absolutely BOOTIFUL isn’t it 😍zero nutrients =Crystal clear water a reminder of how all #ChalkStreams should be like😍I’m constantly seeing rivers suffocating in Algae scum ☹️@SaveTheWye @GaywoodRiver @HereBeProof @WindrushWasp @UnderwaterMedia