Riverfly Partnership
Local community groups and anglers are often seen as natural guardians of the river environment, because they are in an ideal position to monitor the health of the watercourses they fish and live near.
The Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (RMI) has been pioneered by the Riverfly Partnership to provide a simple, standardised monitoring technique which groups can use to detect any severe perturbations in river water quality, and put them in direct communication with their local ecological contact at the Environment Agency (EA) / Scottish Environment Protection Agency - participating areas (SEPA) / National Resources Wales (NRW) / Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
Monitoring is an excellent way to protect river health while fostering local community, science and sustainability.
Used alongside routine monitoring by the EA / SEPA / NRW / NIEA, this RMI scheme ensures that water quality is checked more widely, and remedial action is taken at the earliest opportunity if any severe perturbations are detected.
This active monitoring also acts as a deterrent to incidental polluters.
Successful schemes are underway in catchments across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, with data centrally captured on the Riverfly Partnership’s database. Monitoring is an excellent way to protect river health while fostering local community, science and sustainability.
Please see the Riverfly Partnership website for more information.
Individuals interested in becoming a volunteer Riverfly monitor should register their interest with their local Riverfly hub coordinator. To find out who that is, please e-mail info@riverflies.org.
Photo credit: Andrew Head