January 2026: A Brief Update

Dear Friends, Followers & Supporters

First of all, Happy New Year! May 2026 bring about some really meaningful and positive discourse around the plight of the Cleddau.

There’s a lot to report! First off, The Cleddau Project (TCP) is now a charity! It was felt that the tax advantages that come with charitable status will make us more attractive to potential donors.

In December James Harrison-Allen set up an e-petition calling on Pembrokeshire County Council to create and enact a Clean Rivers Policy to restore the Cleddau to good health. At the time of writing the petition has garnered over 2,100 signatures, well in excess of the 500 needed to guarantee a hearing at council, and more than any other PCC e-petition over the last 12 months. The petition closes on 1st February. If you live, work or study in Pembrokeshire and would like to read, sign and share the petition, you can do this here e-petition to PCC

The extensive water quality data gathered by our volunteers for the Cleddau Catchment Assessment Project (known as C-CAP2) is being analysed and turned into a report by Paul Withers of Lancaster University. The catchment-wide water testing programme was a fantastic example of citizen science involving 90 volunteers testing in 42 sites, twice a month for 12 months. The report is scheduled for completion and distribution in March.

Phase 3 of C-CAP is underway; a slimmed down version with fewer test sites but with the addition of Riverfly monitoring, the presence (or absence) of which are good indicators of river health. The purpose of this project is to build a long-term picture of what’s happening in the Cleddau.

TCP has commissioned a study on the Cleddau from a team at Lancaster University, funded by the Nutrient Management Board. The RePhoKUs project calculates excess phosphorus in river catchments by comparing imports and exports. In the Cleddau phosphorous imports come mainly from animal feed and fertiliser; exports in the form of meat, milk and crops. Surplus phosphorus disrupts soil and river ecology. Part of restoring the Cleddau to good health requires farming to become more nutrient efficient  to reduce these surpluses. A better understanding of the scale of the problem can inform better mitigation. The Lancaster team recently conducted the same exercise on the Wye. You can read about this here RePhoKUs on the Wye

Over the last year, TCP has been road testing working on farm with farmers to look at correlations between soil health, farming practices and water quality. There’s a lot of national focus on the move to regenerative farming which TCP is keen to support.

The ‘My River’ educational and community programme has stalled temporarily pending fresh funding. So far 27 Pembrokeshire primary schools have taken part, engaging with ‘their’ river; in the classroom with river-related workshops, author visits and storytelling performances, and out in the field on source-to-sea trips and boat trips on the Haven. We are actively seeking more funding in readiness for the summer term. If anyone has any ideas about who to approach, please get in touch info@thecleddauproject.org.uk

We’re delighted that local author and Children’s Laureate Wales Nicola Davies has written a beautiful poem – in conjunction with the pupils of Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi – specially for ‘My River’. Please take a moment to read this here Our Wild River Flowing Free

You may have seen NRW’s worrying statement in late summer 2025 about a change in (the wrong) direction in responding to reports of pollution events by the public. The Cleddau Project responded robustly to the announcement on the back of which a meeting was held with senior NRW representatives in October with a follow up meeting scheduled for February. You can read this letter here TCP response to NRW Aug 2025 We need to build a functioning relationship with our local NRW team whilst continuing to challenge the organisation.

With the Senedd elections in 2026 and politicians looking for votes, it’s vital to state strenuously the case for the Cleddau and the widespread concern felt by the people of Pembrokeshire. To this end, The Cleddau Project has sent a letter of Manifesto Asks to candidates seeking our votes. You can read this here TCP Senedd Elections Manifesto 2026 Representatives from TCP will also be participating in a pop-up event at the Senedd in early July.

The group continues to take part in regular discussions with the Nutrient Management Board, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, West Wales Rivers Trust, Wildlife Fund, PCNP, Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum, local environmental protection groups and other river campaign groups to coordinate effective actions.

Thank you to everyone who has given hours of volunteering time, ‘joined us’ via the website and followed us on Facebook & Instagram. Your ideas, experience, expertise and offers of help are always welcome; please contact us at info@thecleddauproject.org.uk

Thank you.