Photograph: Clearview/Alamy
The public are being asked to take part in the first national water watch to survey rivers, streams and canals as part of a monitoring project.
The Autumn Water Watch aims to follow the success of the Big Garden Birdwatch and the Big Butterfly Count, in which hundreds of thousands of people record observations to feed into a national picture.
Over three days this weekend (14-16 October) people are being asked to visit their local river, lake or stream and make a series of observations about pollution, plastic litter, invasive species that may be present and wildlife in and around the water.
The project has been created by Planet Patrol, a not-for-profit environmental group. Volunteers will be guided through their observations on the Planet Patrol app and the data will be analysed by experts from Loughborough University to help determine what needs to be done to tackle the UK’s water quality crisis.
Lizzie Carr, who set up Planet Patrol in 2016, said with not one UK river in an overall state of “good” health, it was more important than ever to monitor UK waterways. Environment Agency sampling of rivers fell to a 10-year low in 2021, and experts warn the lack of monitoring is the greatest threat to water quality in rivers.
“Access to clean water is essential for human health, but also to tackle climate breakdown,” said Carr. “Understanding the state of the UK’s waterways using people-powered data is crucial to our mission to improve water quality.”
The public are being asked to go their local river or lake over the weekend and spend 15 minutes recording their observations on the app, which will lead them through the process.
“We hope as many people as possible will join us. Without the efforts of volunteers, environmental issues like poor water quality would persist, unobserved and unaccounted for, whilst invisibly destroying our environment and ecosystems until it’s too late,” said Carr.
Dr Thomas Stanton, a freshwater scientist from Loughborough University who will be analysing the data, said the water watch would provide a national snapshot of freshwater environments.
“We hope this will show how easy it is for members of the public to really reflect on their connection to their local waterways and it will give us the opportunity to look at the diversity of water bodies,” he said.
“It will raise awareness of the pressures on rivers. We hope this kind of survey will make sure that freshwater environments are recognised and valued and feed into policy decisions.”
