Hereford Rowing Club members have shared with Your Herefordshire their concerns over the state of the River Wye, whilst out training for the upcoming Monmouth Regatta.
Sam Green, a member of Hereford Rowing Club, told us that members had never seen the River Wye in such a state.
Sam said:
“Yesterday evening we were on the water training for Monmouth regatta and we were all horrified by the condition of the water.
“There was an iridescent green froth on the water.
“When we took our boat off this green froth stayed on the boat.
“In all the members combined history we have never seen this.“
It comes as people have taken to social media, after spotting algae blooms on the river.
A campaign group, called Save The Wye has been set up, with campaigners from both England and Wales working together to get action taken to improve the state of the river.
“Save The Wye is an informal group of citizens on both sides of the Welsh border who want to do something to help save the Wye and its tributaries from environmental destruction.
“We support and are supported by a network of individuals and organisations working to protect and restore the health of the river Wye and its tributaries.
“This network includes Friends of the Upper Wye, Friends of the Lower Wye, Citizens of the River Dore, Save the Lugg, and CPRE Herefordshire.
“We created the Save the Wye campaign to raise public awareness and to call for immediate action to stop the pollution and restore the river.
“The pollution is primarily from the proliferation of IPUs in the Wye catchment.
“This is compounded by the lack of regulatory action being taken by agencies that are charged with the river’s protection.
“We need people power to protect our rivers!”
