Hundreds of people flocked Hay Castle recently for a community event based around saving and protecting the River Wye.

On Sunday July 10, visitors flowed through the castle gates to enjoy poems, films and photographs created specifically for the day. The groups were able scrutinise maps of the river catchment and chat with citizen scientists, as well as hear speakers offering solutions to the pollution crisis.

People examine maps of the river catchment
People examine maps of the river catchment (Rick Goldsmith)

The event was part of the WyeJuly initiative, which attracted hundreds of people to days in Leominster, Hereford, Monmouth and Hay-on-Wye. Held over the weekend of July 8-10, the events were a platform for people to talk to citizen scientists monitoring pollution in the Wye catchment, learn more about the sources of that pollution, and discuss solutions.

Jane Dodds, MS for Mid Wales and Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, also attended The Lift The River/WyeJuly event in Hay-on-Wye. The day was organised by Friends of the Upper Wye at Hay Castle, which combined science, art and community in defence of the river.

A highlight of the day was a talk from regenerative farmer Ben Taylor-Davies, who outlined how practices that benefit soils could help to reduce costs for farmers by reducing the need for fertilisers, and also help to keep soil and excess nutrients out of the river.

Poet Robert Minhinnick reads to the audience
Poet Robert Minhinnick reads to the audience (Rick Goldsmith)

Following the success of its WyeJuly initiative, the Save The Wye coalition has issued a call for citizen scientists to be involved in the new cross-border working group set up by Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman to tackle pollution in the river.

Save The Wye has been calling for a cross-border, catchment-wide solution to the devastating pollution in the river since the coalition was formed 18 months ago, so it welcomes Mr Norman’s initiative.

David Gillam, of Save The Wye, said: “ What we saw at all the WyeJuly events was that people throughout the Wye catchment are dismayed and angry about the scale of the damage they can see in the rivers – damage that is now being confirmed by citizen science – and desperately want our water to be healthy. They have a huge appetite for information, and they understand that the problem is the lack of political will to sort this out.

“Under the banner of Save The Wye, local people have put consistent pressure on councils, MPs, the environment agencies and government over the last 18 months. However, only by keeping up that pressure can we hold those responsible to account and ensure that this is recognised as an emergency – we need to be there at the table to do so.

“We also believe that introducing a Water Protection Zone, as soon as possible, is vital to restore the health of the river.”

Nicola Cutcher, a member of Friends of the Upper Wye which organised the event in Hay, said, “Where the environment agencies have cut back on statutory monitoring over the past decade due to government slashing their budgets, people have stepped forward to monitor the water quality as citizen scientists.

“Where politicians have failed to address the key causes of the pollution on The Wye - namely the fact that there is far more livestock manure in the catchment than the land can absorb - it is the people who are sharing the scientific research and calling for system change to reduce the number of chickens and other livestock.

Dedicated local citizen scientists have earned their place in any group making decisions about how to save the river from environmental destruction.”

SaveTheWye is a network which includes Friends of The Upper Wye, Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, Friends of the Lugg, Golden Valley Action Group and Friends of The Lower Wye, as well as thousands of individuals. The umbrella campaign is to support and build the network of organisations and individuals working to protect and restore the health of the River Wye and its tributaries.