In April 2021, a terrible pollution incident took place on the River Trystion, a tributary of the River Dee. DoPower, a company that owns a reservoir on the Trystion, while undertaking maintenance, released sediment-laden water down the river. This led to the killing of 143 brown trout.

This is a tragic event that has impacted not just the wildlife of the River Trystion but also the wider Dee. This comes at a time when so many other factors are already impacting the river and is a step backwards in our and other organisations’ work to conserve the river.

We are thankful to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) who were able to identify the cause of the pollution so rapidly. This helps ensure the problem was solved quickly and reduce the overall harm which could have been caused. We hope DoPower will have identified procedures to ensure this does not happen again.

This response from NRW shows the importance of their role in pollution response and regulation. They are the only organisation with this remit in Wales and we are pleased that in this incident they were able to act quickly and effectively.

In agreement with NRW, DoPower has donated £9,000 to the Welsh Dee Trust. We will use this funding to make improvements to the habitat of the River Trystion. We aim to help the wildlife of the river recover as quickly as possible from this tragic event.