Friday 4th December, 2020
Yesterday the news broke of the destruction of 1.5km of the river Lugg at Kingsland in Herefordshire. The widespread disbelief and dismay at what has happened to this much loved and highly protected river is shared by everyone at the Wye & Usk Foundation.
While it appears an array of wildlife and habitats has been devastated, this could not have happened at worse time for the precious Atlantic salmon. For the past couple of weeks we have been recording salmon spawning in this part of the Lugg and it is almost certain that any eggs deposited in the affected reach will have been destroyed, possibly along with those immediately downstream too.
Like so many others, we want to see this section of the river restored as soon as possible. We also hope that this incident has not undone the good work carried out in the Lugg catchment by so many other land owners, angling clubs, associations and others with an interest in the river’s ecology and environment.
While we understand fully the distress and calls for immediate action, we must now stand back and allow the authorities to carry out their investigations and for the due legal process to take its course.
