Cleddau River faces 'ecological extinction', say campaigners

Otters could be seen scampering along the banks, while its waters and riverbeds were stocked with bass, shrimp, clams and salmon.

Today the river is a putrid reflection of its former status. In the words of Simon Walters, the River Cleddau is dead.

“The horse has boulted which means it’s now too late,” he said.

“The Cleddau River has turned into the Cleddau Sewer. It’s become toxic and the wildlife that we once had as a barometer is showing us the damage of what's been happening for far foo long. The river is dead.”

Simon Walters is standing above two outfall pipes which enter the river at The Fortune’s Frolic just off Clay Lane.  The stench that rises from the pipes at 8am on Friday morning (June 16),  is putrid.

The effluent being discharged from the First Milk outfall pipe (Image: Western Telegraph)

One is discharging sewage while the other is discharging effluent waste from the First Milk creamery treatment plant in Merlin’s Bridge. The banks around the pipes are covered by a reddish-brown sediment which, when touched, appears to have a dense, mousse-like texture.

The bank nearest to the First Milk outfall pipe (Image: Western Telegraph)

The pebbles and stones which were once smooth and clear are now covered in a brown, slimy blanket weed which feeds off the alleged high level of phosphates that are in the water.

This, says Simon, kills all the natural plants that fish feed on. Also affected are insects, fish eggs that are unable to hatch as they don’t have enough oxygen to survive, and birds.

Stones covered in the phosphate-loving blanket weed (Image: Western Telegraph)

“A few years ago we used to dig here for ragworm for bait, but it’s now disappeared,” continued Simon Walters.

“The only fish we see now are mullet. Everything else has virtually gone. Last year, between five and ten sea trout were caught in the entire season yet a few years back you’d be able to catch that many in one single evening.

“At the beginning of May it’s possible to catch some decent bass because there’s fast flowing fresh water. But as soon as you get the summer low tides, there’s nothing to flush out the toxicity and so the fish disappear. They’re not stupid.

“A few years ago around 800 Canada Geese would gather on Little Milford but today there are none and then of course we have the 30,000 winter migrants who arrive here, but they’re being killed off too.

"Today the sewage outlet discharge is pretty clear but on numerous occasions there are sanitary items, condoms and all sorts of other things coming through which means the sewage isn't being properly treated. 

“As a result of what’s coming out of those pipes, we’re destroying the whole eco-system here on the Cleddau, which is a SSSI.”

Simon has made repeated requests to Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales to heighten their monitoring procedures at the site.

He has also requested information concerning the current phosphate levels as well as the volume of discharge that is being released.

“But they’re coming back with nothing,” he continued.

“The NRW are totally under-funded by the Welsh government and just haven’t got the officers available to check. There are only three pollution officers serving the whole of Pembrokeshire.

“And in defence of the farmers who are normally the ones who get the blame for river pollution, no farm effluent reaches the river at this time of the year as we simply don’t get the rainfall to wash it off the land."

In 2014 nearly £7 million was invested in a new First Milk effluent treatment plant at their base in Merlin’s Bridge when they developed a unique partnership with Natural Resources Wales to target reducing not only the environmental footprint of the creamery, but also the large number of farms that supply it.

“The sad thing is that the Cleddau flows through the heart of our county town and yet this is the condition which it has been allowed to reach," said Simon Walters.

 "It’s time that pressure was put on the respective bodies to ensure that despite the damage that has already been done, the problems can finally be addressed and the Cleddau can hopefully start to recover.”

Both Welsh Water and the NRW have been asked to comment on the water quality at this section of the Western Cleddau.