WaterSource

In this week’s episode we catch up with Prof Gill Bristow, Chair of the Taf Fechan steering group, to find out what's been happening on the Taf Fechan Landscape and Community project over the last 12 months. We chat about how the community viewed the project, its achievements and it’s next steps outside of funding.

The catchment team would like to say thank you to the community and local businesses who welcomed the project and worked together to make it a success! Diolch!

The Taf Fechan Landscape and Community Project is part of the Wales Rural Development Plan 2014 – 2020 which is funded by the European Union fund for Rural development and the Welsh Government.

At the end of his two year secondment to Welsh Water's Brecon Beacons Mega Catchment Team, Dave Ashford takes ten to reflect on the programme's achievements under his stewardship. 

In the second of our podcasts with the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, David Ashford speaks with Helen Lucocq, strategy and policy manager at the park. They talk in depth about the new park management plan which is currently out for consultation, looking at the various policy areas being covered by the plan and how it fits in with the vision of the new chief executive. You can take part in that consultation until 4th March. 

In this episode David Ashford interviews the new chief executive of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, Catherine Mealing-Jones. This is  the first of two episodes which will focus on the park and Future Beacons, it's new park management plan. This is currently out for consultation and can be found here. Alternatively, if you'd like to feedback to the park after listening to this podcast, you can do so by emailing [email protected] 

David Ashford goes behind the scenes of our Water Treatment Works in this episode, as he talks with Samantha Fagan, Claire Parslow and Ben Marshall from the Water Services team. If you've ever wanted to know more about what goes on inside a drinking water treatment works, then tune in!

In this episode Dave Ashford talks to Brecon Beacons farmer Keri Davies and project manager with the Brecon Beacons Mega Catchment, Nigel Elgar. The two were recently part of a study tour organised by Farming Connect to visit various farms and projects in England to see what farmers are doing elsewhere to address the matter of protecting water quality. 

In this episode David Ashford speaks with Meg Powell and Laura Evans, two members of the Wales Young Farmer Clubs who recently spent time with the Catchment Team on a week-long placement. In this episode they talk about what they've learned during the week and the projects each undertook to help their understanding of how the water industry links in with agriculture. 

Apologies, however, for the poor sound quality in places. 

In this episode we catch up with farmer Hugh Martineau. Based within the Brecon Beacons, Hugh is a member of the Beacons Water Group. This farmer-led group was initiated by Welsh Water and aims to pilot changes in agricultural practice which protect water quality, improve farm efficiency and resilience and are above minimum regulation.

Here, Hugh talks about the project he has funding for to look at reducing emissions within farming in order to reach a carbon neutral operation.

This latest installment kicks off a new series looking at the work of our catchment management team. In this episode, Dave Ashford talks with customer acceptability scientist Gemma Godwin. Gemma is interviewed while out and about gathering water samples on Llyn Cefni reservoir on Anglesey. She talks more about what her job entails and why it's important.