Following on from the CEFAS paper highlighted in ART E-news issue No 6 on pesticides and their impacts on salmon, a French news item (ref. Sea River) on the potential impacts of glyphosate makes interesting reading:

"Herbicides - Is Round-up dangerous? This product is widely used in agriculture and elsewhere, glyphosate (better known as Round-up) is dangerous although it is considered to be inoffensive. According to French and American researchers this product produces hormone disturbances which cause miscarriages and premature births. For the time being glyphosate is not looked for in water. When this happens it is possible that its use will be prohibited. This happened with atrazine a few years ago."

"Freshwater crayfish like this one from the Eden are vulnerable to certain pesticides"	"Maize - Atrazine a herbicide used extensively on Maize, is now restricted - will glyphosate follow?"

The two day ART Seminar, “Community Partnerships”, is hosted by the Pembrokeshire Rivers Trust and supported by the Celtic Rivers Trust Partnership and Interreg IIIA, via the Welsh Assembly Government. The programme comprises first day seminar and Awards Dinner with field visits on day two, including Pembroke Mill Ponds project and World Champion, Ian Heaps’ Premiere Coarse Fishery.

"Field visit to World Champion Ian Heaps' Premiere Coarse Fishery"	Pembrokeshire Coast	Haverfordwest salmon pass

Speakers include Frank Jones of the Welsh European Funding Office, on present and future European Structural Fund programmes, Andy Schofield of the Environment Agency and Pembrokeshire Rivers Trust and Slaney Rivers Trust (Ireland), reporting on work carried out under their Celtic Rivers Trust Partnership. Other speakers include Pat O’Reilly, Chris Uttley of the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and Mark Lloyd the Director of ACA. The value of community participation, developments in education and fundraising are also covered in the comprehensive programme.

Seminar details are avaliable from: Alan Hawken (ART Secretary), www.associationofriverstrusts.org.uk

E-mail: alan@associationofriverstrusts.org.uk , Direct Tel: 01726-822343

A study by Envirowise, the UK government's business advisory service for resource efficiency, has found that UK industry and commerce use 1,300 million cubic litres of water every year - triple the amount actually needed for their activities. Envirowise estimates that industrial and commercial water usage accounts for about a third of all water used in the UK . Envirowise has launched a new initiative - WaterWealth - to publicise the measures businesses can take to cut water usage.

"Do we take our tap water for granted?"	Eastern Cleddau River at Gelli

Water consumption per person in the UK has risen 1% a year since the 1930s, to about 150 litres a day. This rising demand, combined with climate change, population shifts and better understanding of the need to sustain the water environment, is putting stress on the balance between water supply and demand in many parts of the UK . Water companies are already taking extensive action to conserve water, but everyone recognises the need for more concerted measures. Therefore the industry is setting up a new organisation, Waterwise, to promote conservation, with core funding from the water companies but with an independent board and an independent voice. Waterwise will work with government and regulators to reverse the rise in demand within five years, examine the problem from an industry perspective and promote the role of demand management as a water resource. It will also look at links between demand management and water affordability, and at the wider promotion of water efficiency as an environmental issue. (Source Water UK - The View)

The “Programme of Measures”

Following initial characterisation (see ART E-News issue No 6), Member States will have a period from 2006-2012 to develop the Programme of Measures (PoMs) for each River Basin District. A PoM may be implemented at a national or local level within countries. The PoM may include wide-ranging actions such as:

• Measures to manage specific pressures arising from: forestry, agriculture, urban development, etc;
• Public awareness campaigns to reduce water use and reduce domestic sources of pollution;
• Control regimes or environmental permitting systems;
• Water demand management measures;
• Economic instruments such as incentives, taxes, trading schemes;
• River restoration strategies, etc.

ART believes that Rivers Trusts can have a major role to play in assisting the Environment Agency in the practical delivery of the PoM’s.

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