STRU Est 2020
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News.. 
2nd Usk River Festival
14th September 2025 from 10am Usk Island, Usk Our Next Meeting: TBC |
Our River is Slowly DyingThe River Usk rises in the mountains of mid-Wales flowing 120 kilometers through stunning scenery with a vast wealth of flora and fauna to the strong tidal waters of the Severn estuary. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. Nevertheless, in 2021 Natural Resources Wales found that the Usk had the highest incidence of phosphate pollution in all of the Welsh rivers. Fertiliser run-off from agriculture, human and animal waste and industrial effluent are all contributing to the rise of phosphate levels and dismal decline in the health of the river.
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What can you do? |
Breaking News...
STRU - launch a Petition to the Senedd calling for a Clean Water Bill for Wales
JUST GONE LIVE! SIGN NOW! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Please sign the Petition - https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246640
Our rivers are crying out for help, and time is running out. For too long, polluters, regulators, and lawmakers have talked about protecting our waterways without taking meaningful action. The River Usk and many others across Wales are in crisis.
What the Clean Water Bill Will Do:
This Bill must mean action over words, nature over profit, and transparency over silence.
Add your name to the petition. Help us demand a future where Welsh rivers thrive — not just survive.
https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246640
Please Sign & Share
Chair Angela Jones
Please sign the Petition - https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246640
Our rivers are crying out for help, and time is running out. For too long, polluters, regulators, and lawmakers have talked about protecting our waterways without taking meaningful action. The River Usk and many others across Wales are in crisis.
What the Clean Water Bill Will Do:
- Set legally binding targets for biodiversity and water quality
- Create a fit-for-purpose regulator to hold all polluters accountable
- Introduce new, meaningful Permits that:
- • Cover a wider range of pollutants
- • Carry real consequences for violations
- Mandate a review of water company practices in Wales
- Enforce the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025
- Require SAC rivers to be tested to Bathing Water Quality Standards
- Work with farmers to reduce nutrient runoff without harming food production
- Include citizen scientists and communities in shaping the Bill
This Bill must mean action over words, nature over profit, and transparency over silence.
Add your name to the petition. Help us demand a future where Welsh rivers thrive — not just survive.
https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246640
Please Sign & Share
Chair Angela Jones
Save The River Usk Festival Postponed
We’re very sorry to announce that, due to an official weather warning, the River Usk Festival planned for June 7th has been postponed in the interest of everyone’s safety.
After all the hard work and planning that’s gone into this event, this is not a decision taken lightly.
Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered and supported us — your energy and commitment mean everything.
The new date is Sunday September 14th, 2025 — and we’re hoping for sunshine and smooth waters as we bring the festival to life in early autumn.
Please save the date, and we’ll share more details soon. Stay safe, and thank you for understanding.
Chair Angela Jones
After all the hard work and planning that’s gone into this event, this is not a decision taken lightly.
Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered and supported us — your energy and commitment mean everything.
The new date is Sunday September 14th, 2025 — and we’re hoping for sunshine and smooth waters as we bring the festival to life in early autumn.
Please save the date, and we’ll share more details soon. Stay safe, and thank you for understanding.
Chair Angela Jones
Save The River Usk are holding the second RIVER USK FESTIVAL on Saturday 7th June 2025
We'll be repeating the celebration of the river and its communities that everyone enjoyed last year, in a lovely riverside setting on Usk Island, Usk.
We're already expecting some really exciting events, including community choirs, a parade, refreshments and stalls representing a whole range of community groups.
We'd love it if you could consider joining us, with a stall of your own. It doesn't have to be directly related to the River Usk itself - anyone who celebrates the beauty and the life of the Usk Valley is welcome.
The Festival is family-friendly and alcohol free
The Festival will run from 10AM to 3PM. Admission is entirely free and there is free parking too.
If you or your organisation think you might like to come along,
please contact either Maxine Hill or Angela Jones [email protected]
We're already expecting some really exciting events, including community choirs, a parade, refreshments and stalls representing a whole range of community groups.
We'd love it if you could consider joining us, with a stall of your own. It doesn't have to be directly related to the River Usk itself - anyone who celebrates the beauty and the life of the Usk Valley is welcome.
The Festival is family-friendly and alcohol free
The Festival will run from 10AM to 3PM. Admission is entirely free and there is free parking too.
If you or your organisation think you might like to come along,
please contact either Maxine Hill or Angela Jones [email protected]
High E. coli Levels on The River Usk.
For over a year, we have been working closely with the University of South Wales on microbial analyses of the effluent discharged in The River Usk from Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water sewage treatment works.
We've taken samples from upstream, downstream and at the discharge points for the Brecon, Llanfoist and Usk treatment plants and tested them for E. coli bacteria (a bug that commonly causes infections).
The results show that the River downstream from all three plants contains E. coli at levels that far exceed the maximum permitted for a safe bathing water designation (900 cfu). In one case, the bacterial count at the discharge point hit 173,666 cfu - that's nearly two hundred times the limit for safe bathing!
The River Usk is supposed to be highly protected; a designated Special Area of Conservation. Yet "treated" sewage from Welsh Water is turning parts of it into a public health hazard. STRU believes Natural Resources Wales needs to enforce standards that properly safeguard the river.
We also believe the public should be protected too, and information about the level of pollution entering the river from sewage treatment plants made public.
Special thanks go to Dr Cerith Jones and Talatu Usu at USW and Alistair Hill
We've taken samples from upstream, downstream and at the discharge points for the Brecon, Llanfoist and Usk treatment plants and tested them for E. coli bacteria (a bug that commonly causes infections).
The results show that the River downstream from all three plants contains E. coli at levels that far exceed the maximum permitted for a safe bathing water designation (900 cfu). In one case, the bacterial count at the discharge point hit 173,666 cfu - that's nearly two hundred times the limit for safe bathing!
The River Usk is supposed to be highly protected; a designated Special Area of Conservation. Yet "treated" sewage from Welsh Water is turning parts of it into a public health hazard. STRU believes Natural Resources Wales needs to enforce standards that properly safeguard the river.
We also believe the public should be protected too, and information about the level of pollution entering the river from sewage treatment plants made public.
Special thanks go to Dr Cerith Jones and Talatu Usu at USW and Alistair Hill
Save The River Usk Hold Multi Party Meeting with
MPs and MSs
Save The River Usk held a constructive meeting with a multi-party group of our local MPs and MSs
We shared STRU's extensive data and knowledge of the river, and we were joined by our ally Keri Davies (an organic farmer and head of the Beacons Water Group). After presenting our policy "asks" to them, we had an extremely constructive discussion.
The meeting ended with the politicians all signing up to a pledge to work together to clean up our beautiful Usk and we all left with a clearer understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Thanks are due to :
MS Jane Dodd Leader of Welsh Lib-Dems) , MP David Chadwick, MS Peter Fox, MS James Evans.
MP Catherine Fookes & MP John Griffiths were unable to attend but sent videos of support and a representative.
We'll be organising a repeat event next month for those MPs & MSs who weren't able to be there.
We shared STRU's extensive data and knowledge of the river, and we were joined by our ally Keri Davies (an organic farmer and head of the Beacons Water Group). After presenting our policy "asks" to them, we had an extremely constructive discussion.
The meeting ended with the politicians all signing up to a pledge to work together to clean up our beautiful Usk and we all left with a clearer understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Thanks are due to :
MS Jane Dodd Leader of Welsh Lib-Dems) , MP David Chadwick, MS Peter Fox, MS James Evans.
MP Catherine Fookes & MP John Griffiths were unable to attend but sent videos of support and a representative.
We'll be organising a repeat event next month for those MPs & MSs who weren't able to be there.
- MP Catherine Fookes attends STRU meeting on the 30th September 2024 and promises to be our voice in Westminster to restore our River Usk and Wye.
We will be looking forward to her progress and holding her to account.
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There is nothing as compelling
as a group of like-minded humans coming together to make change! |
Representing At Westminster
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On February 8th, Angela represented our concerns and campaign when she was invited to Parliament to speak. She had a formal meeting with the Welsh Affairs Commmittee to give oral evidence on the Water Quality in Wales. Gail Davies-Walsh
Chief Executive at Afonydd Cymru and Jon Khoo Chair at Surfers against Sewage were also on the panel. Highlights of her testimony are here. |
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The River that was Lost
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