A little more water in the upper catchment is gratefully received adding a few more inches as yesterdays rise falls away.   Otherwise conditions remain similar.#

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Please see below.   a good couple of evenings read though much of it is too technical for mere mortals to understand.   I think it also shows just how many office staff and researchers  are employed by the agency in relation to front line staff.

However a quick look at the storm overflow data show it's mindblowingly obvious that a complete disaster is on the doorstep anytime soon.   take a stiff drink before you read.!!!

Message sent on behalf of Grace Wight: Environment Agency – Area Environment Manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire

 

Good Morning/Afternoon  

 

I am pleased to share with you the latest quarterly River Wye Management Catchment Integrated Data Analysis Report. This is our third report and forms part of our role of monitoring and analysing water quality and working with partners and stakeholders to have a common understanding of the issues, plan appropriate measures and take relevant action.  

 

Quarterly Report  

 

Latest updates:  

• The scale of data being captured in the Wye Management Catchment is increasing exponentially as more continuous monitoring sondes, autosamplers, remote sensing, and citizen scientists are deployed.

 

• All this data contributes to the overall picture of what is happening in the catchment. We will combine new evidence with existing datasets four times a year to contribute to a common understanding among all stakeholders of the issues and actions required.

 

• In this current report we detail the algal survey Rapid Assessment of PeriPhyton Ecology in Rivers (RAPPER) analysis methodology.

 

• We have also included information on the RePhoKUs Project

 

• We give more detail on incident reports within the catchment. The level of our enforcement activity in response to incident reports, reflects the findings of our watershed analysis presented in previous reports that agricultural diffuse pollution and sewage account for the largest share of the water quality problems in the River Wye.

 

• We are working with a variety of partners in the development and delivery of a Citizen Science monitoring programme. This additional resource is used to collect water quality data throughout the Wye Management Catchment and will help to identify and prioritise where measures can be targeted to reduce inputs of pollution.

 

·         You can access the report using the following link: Wye_Report_Q1_2022_23.pdf (environment-agency.gov.uk)

 

·         Please also see the attached infographic for a visual summary of the report. 

 

• We will include an analysis of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s detailed times series data for sewer overflows across the catchment in future reports. We will also undertake an analysis of river flow in relation to phosphate levels.

 

  

Citizen Scientists

 

We politely request Citizen Scientists to follow our data collection and reporting guidance to ensure the data can be used effectively. We have also updated our citizen scientist frequently asked questions that are currently being asked by citizen scientists.

 

 

Citizen Space Webpage  

 

We have updated our dedicated Citizen Space webpage reflecting the latest information detailed above. Additionally, we have included a short section on abstraction towards the end of the page following feedback from our previous quarterly report which I hope you find useful and interesting. 

 

Please share this email with your contacts and signpost people to the webpage, early warning system and report. Please also bear in mind that these tools are in their early stages – we will improve the contents overtime and welcome your feedback. 

 

With best wishes 

Grace  

 

Grace Wight

Area Environment Manager | Herefordshire and Worcestershire 

Environment Agency | West Midlands 

 

For further information please contact the Customers & Engagement Team:

Tel: 02030 251583 | Email: engagement_westmids@environment-agency.gov.uk