Over the winter period the Environment Agency is planning to undertake habitat work at two important sites in Carmarthenshire for water voles, the UK's fastest declining mammal. Utilising the Agency’s Operational Workforce a range of work will be carried out to benefit water vole. At Morfa Berwig on the outskirts of Llanelli, we will continue with targeted scrub clearance alongside the ditches to increase light levels and promote the lush growth of riparian plants that the water vole rely on for food and cover. Woody material arising from the work is chipped on site into piles, which as they decompose provide ideal egg-laying sites for grass snake. An area cleared last year is already vegetating well, and we plan to excavate a pond here to benefit both the water vole and aquatic invertebrates especially dragon and damselfly. It is also planned to excavate a ditch and ponds to link the main drain with a minor ditch in a grazed field adjacent.

At Pendine EAW will be working on the former MoD site managed by Qinetic, to re-excavate a former course of the Railsgate Pill. Water vole are present throughout the levels between Laugharne and Pendine, and the area is designated as an SSSI. However many of the ditches have become in-filled over time or scrubbed over, while the main Railsgate Pill is managed by the EAW to prevent flooding of the Qinetic site. EAW have been working closely with CCW over the years to tweek this management to reduce impact on water vole and enhance the habitat on this stretch, but the work at Qinetic will further enhance the robustness of the population in this area.