RIVER TOWY: Extra water released from Llyn Brianne as drought leaves river running low

Extra water is being released into the River Towy from the Llyn Brianne reservoir, after the summer’s dry spell left the Carmarthenshire river running low.

Natural Resources Wales requested the releases, which Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water began on Friday, a day after the whole of Wales was officially declared in drought, with July heading for the driest since records began 190 years ago.

The extra water will lift flows downstream of the Nantgaredig abstraction point at Capel Dewi by about 50%, and will keep running for 30 days.

It comes from the fisheries water bank, a reserve held at the reservoir specifically for supporting the river when conditions demand it.

Wales received just 8% of its usual July rainfall, by NRW’s measure, and rivers across the south west are already running exceptionally low, among them the Cothi, one of the Towy’s main tributaries.

When it extended the drought declaration last week, the regulator said it was making reservoir releases to support river systems and fisheries under its drought plan. The Towy release puts a local name on that work.

The Towy has already had a difficult few weeks. NRW is investigating suspected pollution of the river at Carmarthen, after reports from the public that included a dead fish.

Dave Charlesworth, freshwater fisheries lead specialist at Natural Resources Wales, said the dry weather had brought prolonged low flows “which can place additional pressure on fish and other wildlife that depend on healthy rivers”.

“This release is a precautionary measure that will help improve conditions in the River Tywi, providing a modest but sustained increase in flow,” he said.

The regulator is deliberately holding water back in case the situation worsens. “While the release will help support the river and its fish populations now, it is also important that we retain sufficient water within the fisheries water bank should further environmental support be needed later in the year,” Mr Charlesworth said.

The situation will be reviewed after the 30 days to decide whether further releases would help.

It is a relatively low-level release compared with the larger ones sometimes used in spring and autumn to help migrating fish, and local anglers and conservation groups have been told it is happening.

The stakes for the fishery are real: the Towy, Tywi in Welsh, is the longest river to flow entirely within Wales, and is renowned among anglers for its sewin, the sea trout that run up it each summer.

There is no shortage at the reservoir itself. Welsh Water has confirmed it has no concerns about storage levels at Llyn Brianne, with plenty of water available for customers and its environmental obligations.

Around 33,000 properties in Ceredigion, north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire have been under a hosepipe ban since 19 July, though that restriction is about treatment capacity rather than reservoir levels.

NRW is urging everyone to use water wisely while the dry weather lasts, with advice available at letssavewater.cymru.