Is your inland water suitable for bathing? Have your say in the Welsh Government’s landowner survey

The Welsh Government’s Programme for government includes a commitment to designating Wales’ inland waters for recreation and strengthening water quality monitoring. They say that the main driver of the commitment is to improve inland water quality in Wales, replicating the success of coastal bathing waters.

With constant calls from outdoor recreation users for the use of inland water for activities such as canoeing, white water rafting and the increasingly popular activity of paddleboarding, the Countryside Alliance wrote to the Welsh Government’s project lead asking if this would at some point in the future, extend to other recreational uses. In the Government’s Programme it clearly states that they (Welsh Government,) will “begin to designate Wales’ inland waters for recreation, strengthening water quality monitoring” and does not differentiate between different types of use. Yet, this survey - which closes on the 9^th of February - refers to bathing waters.

In a response to the Alliance, Welsh Government officials said:

“The survey is designed specifically to support bathing water designation, in line with the Programme for Government commitment. There are some considerations that may also be relevant for wider recreational activities (i.e. access to inland water sites), however the primary focus is to inform bathing water designation.”

A landowner survey has been developed by the Welsh Government which allows landowners and land managers of inland water sites to provide their views on their current inland water access practices and any benefits or concerns they have around potential future designation of inland bathing water sites. This will help the Welsh Government to identify the common issues landowners and land managers are facing and provide clear guidance moving forward to support more inland bathing water designations. 

The survey will not require respondents to provide any personal data. Completing the survey will not capture their email or IP address and, as such, the survey responses will be anonymous. Only the key findings of the survey will be published on the Welsh Government’s website.

The survey must be completed by the 9^th of February and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. You can find it here.