Ahead of the Water Summit at the Pembrokeshire County Showground
(Thursday 25 September) the Deputy First Minister with
responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, calls for urgent action on water
quality.
During the Summit, the Deputy First Minister will outline how
government, farmers, water companies and environmental groups
must work together to clean up Wales' rivers and coastal
waters.
The focus of Thursday's summit will be on tackling agricultural
pollution.
Welsh Government has already committed £52 million to support
nutrient management improvements, receiving over 540 applications
in the latest funding round. But there is more to be done.
The Deputy First Minister, said: "Water is one of our most
fundamental resources, for people and for nature. We must clean
up our rivers. The current state of our waterways in Wales is
rightly a cause for concern for people up and down the country.
Too many of our rivers are too polluted. That cannot
continue."
“We know that improving the health of our rivers means that we
have to collaborate, across all sectors of society. It requires
action from water companies, regulators, government, developers,
farmers, environmental organisations and more. We need a whole of
society response, where every sector takes responsibility for
doing what we can.”
From the uplands of Eryri to the dairy pastures in Pembrokeshire,
water is central to agriculture – to livestock health, crop
productivity and the resilience of local economies.
The Deputy First Minister, said: “Good water quality isn't just
an environmental goal. It's a foundation for a strong, resilient,
farming future here in Wales.
Those of you working in the agriculture sector are central to the
solution. Working together, we need to go further than we have
before, challenge each other more than we have before, and we
need to move quickly to make real improvements.”
“It is also true that the way we manage land, soil and nutrients
can have a profound impact on water quality. This summit is about
recognising this reality - and responding to it.”
The Welsh Government has already invested millions in improving
water quality and has today announced further backing for the
West Wales Nutrient Management Board with an additional £550,000
— funding the installation of real-time water quality monitors to
tackle nutrient pollution and a dedicated Marine Nutrients
Co-ordinator.
The Sustainable Farming Scheme will play a central role in future
improvements. SFS contains Universal Actions on soil health,
integrated pest management and habitat maintenance – combined
with the right advice and guidance all these will have benefits
for water quality.
A follow-up Water Summit will take place later this year to keep
driving progress on actions identified at Thursday's event.
The Deputy First Minister, concluded: “Together we can rise to
the challenge and show that farming and water protection are not
at odds – they're part of the same future.”
