How is the Welsh Government working with Natural Resources Wales, Dŵr Cymru, and Hafren Dyfrdwy to find a better and quicker system of notifying local residents in North Wales when a discharge of untreated sewage occurs?
Both Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) and Hafren Dyfrdwy (HD) have installed Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) on more than99.5% of their relevant storm overflow assets and have recently unveiled their overflow maps (DCWW, HD) which provide near real-time information on storm overflow (SO) activity across Wales. These maps identify all designated bathing waters in Wales and enables members of the public to see when SOs are operating so that they can make informed decisions about where and when they bathe.
More broadly, Welsh Government works with both water companies, Natural Resources Wales, and industry stakeholders through the Better River Quality Taskforce (BRQT). The BRQT was established in 2022 to evaluate the current approach to the management and regulation of SOs in Wales and set out plans to drive change and improvement. The Taskforce has published a series of action plans available online.