Groups looking to do something about the state of their local river often come at the issue from different angles. Manifold CAN is nature-focused but has support from anglers; the Friends of Cecilly Brook have a particular interest in improving the health of one of the last water vole habitats in the district. The Friends of the River Tean, Churnet and Blithe are especially focused on flooding and sewage spills from an ailing Seven Trent storm overflow. Other groups such as Dane Valley Climate Action have dipped their toes in the water via the entry-level Great UK Water Blitz (the next one at the end of April).
This variety of aims and ambitions makes it important that — once they go beyond fun or educational activities — groups should ask themselves a number of questions. What data do they wish to collect and why? Do they want to check whether river quality is changing — for better, or for worse? Do they suspect something is amiss and want to find the cause?
And if they wish to use these data to promote remedial action, how can they make sure the information they collect is robust enough?
Luckily, there is an expanding body of guidance out there, with the most comprehensive being The River Trust-led CastCo project. Closer to home, the Dove Catchment Partnership brings all the relevant parties together (with citizen science firmly on the agenda), while Support Staffordshire has a county-wide project aimed at boosting community involvement in river health monitoring.
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council hopes to run a Moorlands Water event in spring under its new Plan for Nature, at which community groups and the agencies can share best practice.
Citizen science is not a substitute for proper investment to address the multiple threats to water quality in our area but, done properly, it can add a valuable element to what we all want to see — data-driven change in the state of our waterways.
Photo credit: Mount Rainier NPS, Citizen Science Volunteers - 44094809031, CC BY 2.0
See our Spotlight article for an introduction to this.