According to Natural England the health of the river is “unfavourable – declining” – official shorthand for “pretty bad and still getting worse”.
From insect life to fish and water quality, not much in the river is thriving, despite it in theory having the highest possible level of protection.
Farmers and nature experts in the area want to come together to try and help the Wye and its tributary, the Lugg recover.
But the people behind Wyescapes said if they can convince enough farmers along the Wye to change the way they farm, then the future of the river could be much brighter.
Wyescapes is run by Herefordshire Rural Hub in partnership with Herefordshire Meadows, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, and The Wye and Usk Foundation.
Standing on a very wet bridge over the river itself, programme manager Max Eckert explained how interest in the project had exploded.
He said: “We’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm from our farmers and land managers.
“We started off with 36 at the start of this project. We’ve now 49 and over over 5,000 hectares.”
It means much of the farmland along the Wye could end up in the project, and there is a waiting list of those keen to take part.
One idea is for farmers to stop intensive arable in the fertile land along the river’s edge.
Instead, they would grow meadows rich in different grasses and flowers that can be grazed by Herefordshire cattle, as much of the land would have been in years gone by.