Concern is growing nationally about the health of our rivers.  The blame for that decline in river health has been aimed at two main factors, namely discharges of raw sewage by water companies, and agricultural run-off.

 

As a result of those concerns several "citizen science" projects have taken flight. A wide range of groups are carrying out citizen science, under varying protocols, although some of them have cast doubt on the science behind such testing.  Some send results in to agencies, some keep them on the internet, some are just manual.  There seem as yet to be no cogent results and a long way to go before any action is taken by the multiple agencies involved, which include the Environment Agency and local authorities.

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In Shropshire much of the effort is being co-ordinated by Shropshire Wildlife Trust.  However, over the county border to the south our colleagues in CPRE Herefordshire are running a very successful and active citizen science project which you can read about on their website.

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The issue of agricultural run-off is also closely linked to the campaign surrounding Intensive Poultry Units