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River Water Quality & Sewage Discharges

Owen Donovan by Owen Donovan
September 3, 2026
in Environment & Rural Affairs, Issues
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River Water Quality & Sewage Discharges

Is this devolved to Wales?

Devolved

The necessary powers are not reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

Shared Powers

Insert a specific explanation of the powers situation for this issue here.

Not Devolved

The powers over this are reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Specific Section/Number/Clause).

Where is this happening?
National
What's happening?
Why is this happening?
Who has been affected?
What's happening?

There have been growing concerns over about the number and frequency of sewage discharges into Welsh rivers and seas by water companies.

In 2024, only 40% of Welsh water bodies were deemed to have at least “good” water quality1. This falls to 22% for estuaries and coastal areas. 92 rivers were deemed to have “poor” or “bad” water quality.

On 24th June 2026, the Senedd failed to agree on a single way forward, simultaneously rejecting (non-binding) calls for: a Welsh Rivers Act (Reform UK), devolution of more water powers (Plaid Cymru), better enforcement (Labour) and the abolition of Natural Resources Wales (Conservatives).

Why is this happening?

Most sewage discharges have been blamed on storm overflows. High levels of surface runoff during heavy rain led to sewage being released from treatment works into the sea or rivers to prevent the system being overwhelmed.

Such discharges need a permit from Natural Resources Wales. There are around 2,100 such permitted overflows in Wales.

To a certain degree, sewage discharges have always happened. Though campaigners argue that water companies are using storm overflows as an excuse.

However, the number of incidents has spiked since 2020. Discharge rules were relaxed by the UK Government to address chemical supply chain issues caused by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has been made worse by a lack of investment in sewerage infrastructure by water companies – both before and since privatisation.

A separate issue affecting river quality is nitrate runoff from farms (usually from fertilisers, slurry and muck-spreading).

The previous Welsh Government’s approach to this has been controversial, having designated the whole of Wales a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ), which the then opposition parties – including Plaid Cymru – considered to be a blunt tool.

Who has been affected?

Aside from the environment more generally, potentially anyone who goes near (or lives near) an affected river or water body.

Several popular and well-known beaches have lost their blue flag status in recent years because of concerns over water quality. 

Number of permitted storm overflows; Dwr Cymru and Hafren Dyfrdwy (Natural Resources Wales)

Percentage of permitted storm overflows that have spilled; Dwr Cymru and Hafren Dyfrdwy (during 2024, Natural Resources Wales)

Costs & Economic Impact

Storm overflows
£ 1.5 - 6.5 billion Cost of addressing it in Wales depending on the chosen solution to the problem
  • Costs estimated in a 2023 report to the Welsh Government.
  • This would potentially add anything between £60-390 to water bills in Wales.
Who has raised this at the Senedd?

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

First Minister

Llŷr Gruffydd MS

Rural Resilience & Sustainability Minister

Sera Evans MS

Chair: Education & Young People

Niamh Salkeld MS

Backbencher

Rebeca Phillips MS

Backbencher

Elyn Stephens MS

Backbencher

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS

Backbencher

James Evans MS

Shadow Health Minister

Laura Anne Jones MS

Shadow Rural Affairs Minister

David Mills MS

Backbencher

Paul Marr MS

Backbencher

Nigel Williams MS

Backbencher

Gareth Beer MS

Backbencher

Vikki Howells MS

Senedd Commissioner

Mike Hedges MS

Backbencher

Janet Finch-Saunders MS

Backbencher

Andrew RT Davies MS

Senedd Commissioner

Paul Rock MS

Backbencher

Jane Dodds MS

Backbencher

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

First Minister

Llŷr Gruffydd MS

Rural Resilience & Sustainability Minister

Sera Evans MS

Chair: Education & Young People

Niamh Salkeld MS

Backbencher

Rebeca Phillips MS

Backbencher

Elyn Stephens MS

Backbencher

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS

Backbencher

James Evans MS

Shadow Health Minister

Laura Anne Jones MS

Shadow Rural Affairs Minister

David Mills MS

Backbencher

Paul Marr MS

Backbencher

Nigel Williams MS

Backbencher

Gareth Beer MS

Backbencher

Vikki Howells MS

Senedd Commissioner

Mike Hedges MS

Backbencher

Janet Finch-Saunders MS

Backbencher

Andrew RT Davies MS

Senedd Commissioner

Paul Rock MS

Backbencher

Jane Dodds MS

Backbencher

What are the party positions on this?
Plaid Cymru
  • Supports stronger regulation
  • Opposed
  • Neutral/No Opinion

Plaid Cymru supports tougher regulation of the water industry and support a new system of regulation in Wales. They support full devolution of water powers.

People across Wales are angry, and they have every right to be. Six of the 20 most polluted rivers in the entire United Kingdom are here in Wales. Rivers that have been at the heart of our communities for generations are being poisoned. For too long, companies have taken the profits while our communities have been left to live with those consequences. People want accountability, they want action and they want the places they love handed on to the next generation in a better condition than they found them.
Niamh Salkeld MS
Niamh Salkeld MSBlaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni
While many dedicated staff work hard within the organisation, it is clear that the regulatory system is not functioning as effectively as it should. As we've heard, too often pollution incidents have come to public attention not because regulators identified and acted upon them, but because local campaigners and community groups carried out investigations themselves. For too long, the discharge of sewage into our rivers was only being exposed because local people were prepared to do the work that others should have been doing. It is therefore welcome that this Government is proposing meaningful reform and is prepared to do the hard yards necessary to restore confidence in the system and protect our waterways.
Sera Evans MS
Sera Evans MSAfan Ogwr Rhondda
Just three days ago, Ofwat confirmed an enforcement package against Welsh Water for the widespread water failures—over £40 million of it targeted at reducing spills at storm overflows. While I realise that allocation of that package is a matter for Ofwat, the Welsh Government sets the strategic priorities for Natural Resources Wales. So, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that Natural Resources Wales works effectively with Ofwat to press for a portion of this money to address the failing infrastructure affecting the River Kenfig catchment and to satisfy himself that those spills actually fall?
Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS
Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MSPen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg
Reform UK
  • Supports stronger regulation
  • Opposed
  • Neutral/No Opinion

Reform UK proposed a Welsh River Act and believe Natural Resources Wales hasn’t been resourced properly to fulfill its broad brief. They oppose further devolution of water powers to Wales.

Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales, Dŵr Cymru, local authorities and other agencies all have a role, yet when rivers fail, nobody appears to be fully accountable and that's a real, real worry. The public shouldn't need a flow chart, if you'll excuse the pun, to discover who is responsible for pollution in their local river. That's got to change, absolutely. Indeed, Welsh Water itself points to water companies, regulators, local authorities, highways authorities, developers and agricultural sources themselves. If so many organisations are involved, it becomes even more important that someone is ultimately accountable for outcomes.
Nigel Williams MS
Nigel Williams MSFflint Wrecsam
It is not only our streams, estuaries and seas affected by pollution and the failings of Welsh Water. Plaid Cymru have pledged to build 20,000 homes by the end of this Government. In my constituency alone, we've had three housing developments effectively shelved due to concerns about the build run-off affecting water quality and the capacity of the sewer network to deal with the additional waste. This is more than 200 homes. This equates to 1 per cent of the total 20,000 pledged by this Government.
Paul Marr MS
Paul Marr MSCeredigion Penfro
We can fully agree with most of the shared aims that we both (Reform & Plaid Cymru) want to achieve, but do we really need the full devolution of the water sector to achieve this, when we already have the powers here in Wales that just haven't been used properly? And how long would that take? How long would that take? We have a body in NRW that is far too under-resourced and performs way too many functions to fully concentrate on our waterways and give them the attention they deserve and need.
Laura Anne Jones MS
Laura Anne Jones MSSir Fynwy Torfaen
In Carmarthenshire, Natural Resources Wales seem to be flying blind. Our rivers are being contaminated by harmful chemical mixtures, including organics, ammonia, microplastics, cadmium and mercury, with no understanding of their interactions or the harm done. Will you acknowledge that the Welsh Government lacks a credible plan to clean up our rivers, and set out how it will meet its political duty to protect our waters and rivers and special areas of conservation?
Gareth Beer MS
Gareth Beer MSSir Gaerfyrddin
Labour
  • Supports stronger regulation
  • Opposed
  • Neutral/No Opinion

Labour supports the creation of a Welsh water regulator and tougher enforcement.

Last year, both Governments jointly established the Independent Water Commission to undertake the most comprehensive examination of the water sector since privatisation. It told us that the current system is too complex. It lacks the transparency and responsiveness people expect. I think we can all agree on this. That's why we support the creation of a new Welsh economic water regulator, with the authority and independence to act decisively for Wales. We need to strengthen accountability, rebuild trust and create a system that is simpler, stronger and more transparent.
Vikki Howells MS
Vikki Howells MSPontypridd Cynon Merthyr
Do you agree with me that what we need is NRW to stop being nice to Welsh Water and start prosecuting them and making them pay a price for letting the raw sewage go out there, and in which case, they'll stop doing it?
Mike Hedges MS
Mike Hedges MSGŵyr Abertawe
Conservatives
  • Supports
  • Wants a new regulator
  • Neutral/No Opinion

The Conservatives have been heavily critical of Natural Resources Wales’ role in failing to properly regulate water quality. They have called for its abolition and replacement with a new environmental regulator.

You brought together the Countryside Council of Wales, the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency, put it all together, and thought big was going to be beautiful. Well, big wasn't beautiful in this instance. And Surfers against Sewage have a paragraph or two specifically on NRW, and they say: 'A Lame Duck Regulator....because Natural Resource Wales, the environmental regulator which should be putting a stop to this pollution, is an absolute shambles.'
Andrew RT Davies MS
Andrew RT Davies MSPen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg
The reality is that whilst the pollution levels have been going up, so have the bonuses the chief exec (of Welsh Water) got. He actually got bonuses, which are supposed to be for when you're providing a good service. He actually got more bonuses when we saw the pollution levels at some of their highest. That is just insane, and how any previous Government could allow that baffles me now to this day.
Janet Finch-Saunders MS
Janet Finch-Saunders MSBangor Conwy Môn
Green Party
  • Supports stronger regulation
  • Opposed
  • Neutral/No Opinion

The Greens support nationalisation of water, and have condemned the current regulations as being not fit for purpose.

We're given to understand that the two main sources of pollution in Wales are industrialised agriculture and waste water. So, stronger regulation and enforcement is, of course, required across both. An expansion of the existing environmental permitting regulations could already be used to monitor and address cumulative impacts more effectively.
Paul Rock MS
Paul Rock MSCaerdydd Ffynnon Taf
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is not fit for purpose for tackling the problems that it has created, especially the scourge of sewage pollution. So, nationalisation is an essential first step, which the amendment sadly misses.
Paul Rock MS
Paul Rock MSCaerdydd Ffynnon Taf
Liberal Democrats
  • Supports stronger regulation
  • Opposed
  • Neutral/No Opinion

Jane Dodds expressed support for stronger regulation and monitoring, but believes the increase in river pollution can be linked to Brexit and withdrawing from higher EU standards.

We must close the monitoring gap. Afonydd Cymru has highlighted that 90 per cent of Welsh water bodies have been assessed as being in high status with no actual chemical monitoring data, but Dŵr Cymru's self-reporting data sits at 74 per cent, and Hafren Dyfrdwy's fell to just 60 per cent. So, we are regulating in the dark.
Jane Dodds MS
Jane Dodds MSBrycheiniog Tawe Nedd
....let's just be clear what leaving the EU has meant for our water. We have diverged from EU rules governing hazardous substances. The EU have introduced much stronger environmental laws, which is what we want here in Wales and the UK, because many of our rivers go cross-border—they go not just across Wales, but they go into England. So, you (Reform and Conservatives) have taken us out of the EU and those strengthened laws.
Jane Dodds MS
Jane Dodds MSBrycheiniog Tawe Nedd
Who is responsible?

Llŷr Gruffydd MS

Rural Resilience & Sustainability Minister

What have ministers said?
Public concern is high and people rightly expect urgent and visible action. I agree with the public strength of feeling. We want clean water, we want a healthy environment and we want a system that delivers for communities, not one that tolerates failure. That is why the Welsh Government is taking forward a comprehensive programme of water reform, which is focused on three things: taking control of our water, strengthening regulatory oversight and company accountability, and improving environmental performance.
Llyr Gruffydd MS
Llyr Gruffydd MSClwyd
The Welsh Government is working closely with the UK Government on the forthcoming clean water Bill, which is expected later this year, which will devolve powers to the Senedd to enable us to establish a new regulator. But we're also working with the UK Government to bring forward the necessary legislative consent motions in a timely way, making sure that decisions affecting Wales are subject to Senedd scrutiny here in this Chamber.
Llyr Gruffydd MS
Llyr Gruffydd MSClwyd
We're working with water companies to reduce sewage spills and improve infrastructure, but we're also working in partnership with Natural Resources Wales, farmers in Wales and the agricultural sector to deliver those sustainable solutions that reduce pollution at source whilst also supporting a resilient rural economy. This includes moving towards a more science-led, outcomes-based and risk-proportionate approach, moving away from the blunt farming-by-calendar approach, which is clearly not working.
Llyr Gruffydd MS
Llyr Gruffydd MSClwyd
The vision for a reformed Welsh water sector will be published later this autumn, so we're nearing that point where we have a point to move forward from. We know that river pollution has multiple causes. It requires action across all sectors. It involves industry, it involves agriculture, it involves the water companies themselves. It's about making sure that we have good, solid regulation, made in Wales—that's what I want. It's by having that attitude that we can move forward to having cleaner rivers in Wales.
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS
Rhun ap Iorwerth MSBangor Conwy Môn
What's being done about this?
Promises & Pledge Tracker
What do the Welsh Government want to do?
Does this need a new law or regulations?
How long will this take?
What do the Welsh Government want to do?

Plaid Cymru’s manifesto supported the previous Welsh Government’s plans to introduce a water regulator for Wales. They have included a law on this in their legislative programme.

The Welsh Government also seeks full devolution of water to Wales (at the moment only parts of it are devolved – such as sewerage).

The Minister has said that he expects “(water) companies to subject to clearer expectations, stronger performance oversight and more direct consequences when they fail to meet standards. This includes the ability to set price controls for Wales.”

The Minister has also announced what he described as a “science-led” approach to nitrate runoffs from farms. He has hinted at lifting a ban on muck-spreading during winter months.

Does this need a new law or regulations?

A law will be needed to establish a new water regulator for Wales once the necessary powers are devolved. This was included in the Welsh Government’s legislative programme announcement.

How long will this take?

A water regulation law was included as part of the first phase of the Welsh Government’s legislative programme, meaning it could be introduced during 2027.

What have the Senedd's Committees said?

Nothing has been discussed yet.

Committee Name

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Relevant Votes
DateMotion NumberSubjectTabled AsBinding Vote?Votes ForAbstentionsVotes AgainstAbsent/No VoteOutcome
24/06/26NDM9259Amendment – Scrap Natural Resources Wales
Conservatives
No360508REJECTED
24/06/26NDM9259Amendment – Better enforcement & more resources
Labour
No110758REJECTED
24/06/26NDM9259Amendment – Devolve water powers
Plaid Cymru
No401458REJECTED
24/06/26NDM9259Support a Welsh Rivers Act
Reform UK
No370498REJECTED
Further Reading
  1. Natural Resources Wales. “Assessment of water quality in Wales, 2024“
  2. Stantec (September 2023). “An investigation into the costs and benefits ofdifferent storm overflow control policies for Wales“
  3. Senedd Research Service (16th December 2024). “Nitrate pollution in Wales: what’s the situation now?“

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