Calls have been made for Dŵr Cymru to address the amount in sewage being released into Gwynedd’s waterways.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP and MS, Liz Saville Roberts and MS Mabon ap Gwynfor call on Dŵr Cymru to address the problem after figures showed there were 10,578 sewage discharges in the constituency in 2024, lasting around 88,682 hours across 175 sites.

They said: “The pollution of our seas, beaches, rivers, and lakes not only threatens our health but our well-being and sense of local pride. It also has a detrimental impact on Gwynedd’s visitor economy and on water-based leisure activities.

“We continue to receive regular correspondence from constituents, concerned about the frequent discharging of sewage into our local waterways and the adverse impact this is having on the health of our communities.

“We share these concerns and the wider public perception that these bodies of water are not safe to use.

“Our constituency relies heavily on tourism, particularly coastal communities such as Pwllheli, Tywyn and Cricieth.

“It is disheartening therefore to be told time and again that sewage is being discharged into these areas.

“We would urge Dŵr Cymru to redouble their efforts in working with these platforms to ensure accurate, real-time data is used to inform users of water quality.

“Above all else, all effort must be taken to mitigate the ongoing situation which neither the health of our communities, the visitor economy or Dŵr Cymru can ill-afford.”

A Dŵr Cymru spokesperson said: “The EDM figures show a direct correlation between rainfall levels and storm overflow activations.

“Although 2024 was a wet year, it was drier than 2023, and this contributed to a seven percent reduction in total hours of storm water spills in our operating area.

“As a country on the western side of the UK, we have some of the highest levels of rainfall and are seeing an increase in severe events linked to climate change.

“Wales also has some of the oldest housing stock in the UK meaning there is more ‘combined’ sewers than other areas.

“We are determined to play our part to improve river and bathing water quality and over the next five years we’ll invest £2.5bn on projects to improve the environment, including £889m on improving storm overflows.

“The total removal of storm overflows is unaffordable and would take decades, so we are targeting this investment on those having the greatest environmental impact.

“It’s also important to note the large geographical size of these constituencies.

“All these communities are served by smaller sewerage networks and storm overflows, which are essential to ensure networks do not become overwhelmed and flood properties.

“There will be more waste water assets in a North West Wales constituency than an inner city.

“The UK monitors frequency of operation (event) and for how long (duration) rather than volumes, so a six-inch pipe in North West Wales scores the same as a discharge in a big city, you could drive a bus down, even though the amount of storm water and sewage and the impact will be very different.”