New figures from the Environment Agency have revealed the water quality in Welsh rivers has improved for the 19th consecutive year.
According to the annual General Quality Assessment, nine out of ten achieved a ”good” or ”very good” status in 2008.
The agency also announced it is working on improving the quality of around 4,500 miles of rivers in the country by 2015 in order to meet new European standards.
Director at the Environment Agency Wales Chris Mills noted that rivers in the country "are at their healthiest for over a century", resulting in an increase in the populations of "prized" fish such as salmon and sea trout.
He said that the body”s strategy to further improve standards will help encourage wildlife to return to areas where development has previously been limited.
The performance is better than that of English rivers, seven out of ten of which were rated as being ”good” or ”very good” in 2008.
Written by David Sollberger
