Cross border collaboration will be of massive importance in the fight to clean rivers in Wales, so the Welsh government want to work closely with the UK government.
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00:00Not least because our iconic rivers like the Severn, the Dee and the Wye of course cross
00:05national borders.
00:07What happens upstream in England impacts downstream in Wales and vice versa.
00:12And so we must work together and the renewed partnership we've seen since July is very
00:17welcome indeed and very long overdue.
00:20In doing this work we are building on what has already been achieved in Wales.
00:25Today three times as many rivers achieve a good ecological status in Wales at 44% than
00:32in England.
00:33It's an 8% improvement on the first classifications in 2009.
00:39The Deputy Prime Minister Huw Irranca-Davies says that more needs to be done to help the
00:43situation.
00:44And while things are in place to keep rivers as clean as possible, the Welsh Government
00:48have more planned.
00:51So we are moving in the right direction but we also know we need to go further and faster.
00:57With the reality of the climate crisis, the risk to our water sector is growing.
01:02The pressures on water supplies and on infrastructure are unprecedented and the importance of building
01:08resilience to climate change simply cannot be overstated.
01:13He says the cross-border element is important to the situation and wants both countries,
01:17England and Wales, to help each other, starting with regulations that give bodies more power
01:22to help clean rivers and prevent them from becoming more polluted in the future.
01:27It will take all of us, all of us, working together to not only address today's challenges
01:33but also to prepare us for those to come.
01:36So whilst there is a lot done, there is also a lot left to do.
01:42In that spirit of collaborative cross-border working, I have agreed that the UK Government's
01:47new Water Special Measures Bill be extended to Wales.
01:53This legislation will strengthen the powers of the regulator and address water pollution.