An MP has called for action to improve the UK’s “staggering” decline in water quality.
Catherine Fookes, MP for Monmouthshire, led a Westminster Hall debate on the issue, highlighting the decline of the UK’s rivers, particularly the Wye and Usk in her constituency.
She said: “This decline in the health of our water quality is staggering and desperately needs action to repair.
“Parents are too scared to let their kids run helter-skelter into the local stream or river or lake, for fear that they will get an ear, eye or stomach infection, encounter a wet wipe, sewage or something much worse.”
Ms Fookes pointed out the significant decline in water quality in Monmouthshire’s rivers due to high levels of phosphate pollution.
She said this pollution has led to algal blooms that starve fish, plants and invertebrates of oxygen.
The MP said the Usk and Wye are among the most polluted rivers in the UK, with the Usk having the highest incidence of phosphate pollution of the nine Welsh Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designated rivers in 2022.
She called for urgent measures to address the main sources of pollution, including diffuse agricultural runoff and sewage discharge, with 83 per cent of phosphates in the Wye coming from diffuse agricultural sources.
Ms Fookes praised the Labour Government’s initiatives, such as the Water Special Measures Bill and the establishment of the Water Commission, which aim to tackle illegal sewage dumping and hold water companies accountable.
However, she stressed the need for further action to address agricultural pollution and enforce existing regulations.
She said: “We have been left a very difficult legacy due to inaction from the Tories and also the Liberal Democrats when they were in coalition.
“It will take much work by Government to clear up the mess in our rivers, lakes and seas and fix the broken system.”