THE Environment Agency has defended its plans for the River Wye, saying they will be bold in their approach to protecting the waters.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency and Natural England said: “We recognise that the challenges facing the River Wye require new and bolder approaches, and that’s what we have set out in the plan. Solutions to this complex issue must be strongly evidence-based, including the option of a Water Protection Zone.
“As part of the plan, we are committed to doing the necessary work to evaluate the Water Protection Zone option, as well as exploring all other viable options to improve water quality in the River Wye."
The EA insist that everyone needs to be involved in the process.
“Tackling diffuse water pollution requires a catchment-wide effort, with regulators, farmers, supply chains and local partners all playing their part in implementing innovative and workable solutions.”
The Ross-On-Wye Angling Club is the latest to criticise the Agency for their approach saying it was "totally inadequate."
They added: "The days of lush, emerald mats of Ranunculus – a summer-flowering water plant – sprinkled with tiny, white blooms stretching from bank to bank have been lost in just the last few years.
"Thick algal pea-soupers caused by high phosphates and other nutrients now plague the Wye in spring and summer, darken the water and smother the river bed with slime, cutting off essential light for the young, sprouting Ranunculus plants. In good years, small patches of Ranunculus do still survive in our stretch of the river when the water runs clear, but these years are becoming few and far between. Repeated smothering will eventually kill the remaining Ranunculus patches for good.
"This would be disastrous. Ranunculus, and the clean stones piled on river bed, provide essential complex habitats for a myriad of invertebrates, that provide food for our abundant fish, which in turn feed our kingfishers, goosanders, egrets, herons and otter. Once the Ranunculus has gone and all that is left is slime-smothered stones, the system will likely collapse."
However several angling teams, including ROWAC have reported that it is a bumper year for certain types of fishing in the Wye.
Angling Escapades which runs competitions along the Wye said, while salmon numbers mysteriously fell off a cliff suddenly in the late 1980s, and continue to decline at the same rate as all European rivers, coarse fish numbers have increased.
Dave Roberts told the Hereford Times: "This in turn creates a food chain for a whole host of species that thrive on their numbers. Some more welcome than others but kingfishers, egrets, herons, otters and cormorants, are all at record numbers in the Wye Valley. "
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