'Our rivers cannot afford another lost decade of buck-passing'

As we reported yesterday, charity River Action is taking legal action against National Resources Wales, claiming the watchdog has 'washed its hands' of river pollution after it approved plans for the expansion of three Welsh poultry farms. Here, River Action's head of legal, Emma Dearnaley, explains the move

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> Bigsweir bridge crossing the River Wye near Monmouth

ACROSS Wales, rivers that should be a source of pride - places for connection, wildlife and local identity are in visible decline.

In recent years, much of the public debate has focused on sewage discharges, storm overflows and Victorian infrastructure doing 21st century damage. That remains an important focus.

But if we are serious about restoring our rivers, another very significant source of pollution must be understood and addressed with an equivalent amount of resolve: nutrient pollution linked to intensive livestock production and, in Wales especially, the waste generated by industrial-scale poultry units.

This is not about farmers trying to do the right thing in challenging circumstances. It is about whether the regulatory system governing intensive agricultural operations is working as Parliament intended and whether regulators are using the powers they have to prevent harm before it occurs.

Pollution from intensive poultry production does not usually appear as a dramatic brown slick after heavy rain. Instead, it spreads more quietly.

Vast quantities of chicken manure, rich in phosphorus and nitrogen, are being spread on land or exported and spread on other land that in some catchments is already saturated with nutrients.

From there, rainfall can wash those excess nutrients into nearby streams and rivers, fuelling algal blooms that choke oxygen from the water, damage wildlife and smother riverbeds.

By the time the ecological harm becomes visible, the pollution has already taken hold.