The Wye and Usk Foundation

Access and Egress points ( for getting in and out of the river)have been agreed with owners and are chosen to avoid conflict with locals and wildlife. You run the risk of alienating owners or damaging/scaring wildlife if you decide to enter or leave at sites other than those designated. PLEASE STICK TO THE AGREED ENTRY & EXIT PLACES

Several waters in England and Wales have recently been infectted byt the the Eastern European killer shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus). This is a highly aggressive non-native species that has a disastrous effect on indigenous invertebrates, fish and other fauna. Make sure you are not the one who infects the Wye or Usk - read the Essential Info section in the left hand menu before you paddle.

The Glanusk Estate has resumed its winter shoots from 30th October 2010 to 1st February 2011. Canoeists must therefore exit the river Usk at Llangynidr during this period and not paddle downstream to Gliffaes or Crickhowell. It is paramount to your safety that you follow this. Please see the Talybont to Crickhowell pdf in the Usk section for more information.

Please download the Assembly's debate

The Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson, has responded to the Assembly's Sustainability Committee Report on canoe access (Download report)

To whom it may concern,

I was fishing at Winforton on Saturday and Sunday.
Some of your Canoes were on the river. The behaviour of a great number of your customers was appalling.
I am not against canoeing at at all, in fact I have canoed down the Wye several times. There is room for fishermen and canoeist.

Your customers were

1. Shouting and screaming so that not only did they disturb the wildlife, had there been someone drowning noone would have taken any notice
2. Empty bottles and drink can were being thrown into the river along with discarded paper cartons and crisp packets.
3. No consideration was taken towards me fishing, in fact some of your canoeists paddled within a yard or so of me whilst some did paddle down the other side of the river
4. A number stopped in the pool I was fishing and mucked about, granted on the other side but it still disturbed the pool I was fishing.

This behaviour is totally uncalled for and is caused in the majority by ignorance by the fact that your company quite obviously does not given the customers
a pep talk / lecture on how to behave on the river.

There is room for both canoes and fishermen providing the canoeists behave in a responsible way, respect fishermen, pass quietly on the far side of the stream where possible
and DONT STOP.

I know they were your customers as your company name was on the canoes along with the telephone number.

The long awaited report from the sustainability committee has been published and may be found at:

http://www.assemblywales.org

Although 65 pages long, pages 35 -65 comprise annexes and a list of those who submitted oral and written evidence, the latter taking some 25 pages to list! It is recommended reading and we commend the Committee for engaging with such a weight of evidence and coming to a conclusion when such a diverse range of extreme views exist.

There are 13 recommendations for the Minister, Jane Davidson, to consider. Essentially, the document proposes that voluntary agreements are the access method of choice and that these should be set up where possible. A number of other proposals are included to support this principal.
Mention is made in several sections of the agreements set up by the Wye and Usk Foundation (which currently operate above Hay and Crickhowell) and there is cause to believe that, as the only successful arrangements in force in Wales, they played a significant part in the resultant recommendation for voluntary agreements.

There are, however, two recommendations that need particular consideration in respect of the lower Usk where no agreement is in force:

• Recommendation 6. The legislation referred to in recommendation 5 should also place power on a lead authority to designate such bodies of water as ones to which access rights would attach compulsorily if no voluntary agreement could be reached.
• Recommendation 8. We recognise that neither the Welsh Ministers nor the Assembly currently have legislative competence to implement recommendations 5-7 and recommend that such legislative competence is sought as soon as possible.

The next step will be an announcement from the Minister in respect of any changes the recommendations might bring to the existing access strategy.

We will update this page accordingly.

River Wye SSSI, Glasbury: Disturbance to Wildlife

Due to the current low water levels and presence of nesting birds on many of the gravel banks and islands downstream from Glasbury, the Countryside Council for Wales are concerned that the potential for disturbance risk arising from canoeists and kayaks landing in these areas is particularly high, especially during the coming bank holiday period.

Consequently, we would like ask that all persons renting out canoes and kayaks or otherwise organising such activities make a particular effort to pass on the following advice to all those using boats on this part of the river:

To avoid disturbance to nesting water birds please do not land on the gravel banks and islands between 1 April and 31 July.

Wherever possible come ashore at recognised landing places (e.g. Hollybush Inn & Hay Warren) other than in emergencies.

This advice is also available on the Environment Agency Website and Powys County Council will be placing a notice to this affect at the Glasbury Bont launching site.

Please note that it a criminal offence to disturb nesting birds.

We would be grateful for your assistance in promoting responsible boating use in this area.

Thank you

David Drewett, Regional Ecologist

Much to the frustration of local residents, canoeists have been exiting the river immediately below Llanwrthwl Bridge. This is a fish spawning area and must not be disturbed. The agreed access and exit point is another 50 yards downstream of the bridge, next to the sign. Please adhere strictly to this or we will lose this key access and egress point

We are updating all the maps and details to include extensions and changes and have reduced the size of the pdfs to shorten the time taken to download them