An introduction to SWOAPG’s new ‘WaterSource’ initiative in partnership with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.
Water. The source of life. A precious resource.
As people who work in ‘the great outdoors’, we have a more intimate relationship with it than most.
We drink it. We wash with it. We scramble and swim in it. We float on it. We walk amongst it. We get soaked by it when it falls from the sky. We sometimes even get to play with it in its frozen form.
The water we use in south Wales is supplied by (and our wastewater treated by) Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and comes mostly from rainfall in the north of our region (or the southern part of mid-Wales!). Rain on the Bannau Brycheiniog and other hills fills the rivers and the ‘impounding’ reservoirs – the ones formed by dams – or in Brecon and a few other places is extracted from groundwater boreholes. From the rivers, reservoirs and boreholes it is transferred to smaller reservoirs (often hidden underground) that service our villages, towns and cities.
We take for granted that when we turn on our taps, clean water will flow. And that we can enjoy using our rivers, lakes, reservoirs, canals and seas – for both work and pleasure. As much as we want, whenever we want.
But will that always be so? Our water resources are under threat!
The ’climate emergency’ is causing more extreme and frequent weather events. Droughts pose risks to supplies and habitats; and reduce the levels in waterways that we work in or on. Floods cause immense damage and pose hazards for our work. Pollution is destroying ecosystems and making waterways less safe and enjoyable for us to use. Invasive species are overturning the natural scheme of things (and damaging water machinery). And the intense focus on addressing the ‘nature emergency’ means the needs of outdoor recreation are increasingly taking ‘second place’ (as we’ve seen on the Wye at Glasbury and with coasteering in Pembrokeshire, where access is being controlled to prevent possible environmental harm; or with the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, where water abstraction from the Usk has become an expensive issue).
Our water companies and other public authorities are working hard to address these threats. Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water declares that as “the only water company of its kind in the UK, we don’t have shareholders, which means we put every penny back into looking after your water and our beautiful environment – now and for years to come.” Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority has ‘water’ as central theme in its ambitious management plan Dyfodol y Bannau, which aims to achieve “clean, safe, resilient, plentiful water resources and water environments by 2030”. Natural Resources Wales wants to see “nature and people thriving together” by “focussing our passion and collective action towards nature’s recovery; resilience to climate change; and minimising pollution.” But the challenge is huge – and public resources limited…
So what can we do? To quote those immortal words, “every little helps”! As businesses, organisations and individuals we can adopt – and encourage others to adopt – ‘best practices’ that can help to protect our water resources for future generations.
SWOAPG is now a collaborative partner in Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s WaterSource initiative “to promote best practice activities in our drinking water catchments” – so we’ll be aiming over the coming months to offer information, knowledge and networking opportunities to support you in identifying appropriate ‘good practice’ that we can all adopt to help protect and conserve our water supplies. At the same time, we’ll continue to advocate for the needs of outdoor activity provision wherever we can with public authorities and landowners, so that we’re recognised, appreciated and catered for in strategic and local decisions.
As outdoor activity providers, you can not only adopt ‘best practise activities’ yourselves but can also find unique opportunities to share and promote these with your clients as you engage them with water-related activity in the outdoor environment (even if that only means discussing the water cycle with them as they endure a torrential downpour!).
And as individuals, there are doubtless a myriad of small actions we can take to help conserve and protect water supplies (from turning off taps to flushing only the 3Ps!).
We hope that this introductory message has whetted your appetite as to ‘why water matters’ and encourage you to watch this space for more ‘flesh on the bones’ in due course. And as always, please don’t hesitate to contact us with your own (preferably polite!) suggestions on what we might be able to do to help…