Volunteer for the Big Windermere Survey

An update to all supporters of the Big Windermere Survey

The Big Windermere Survey (BWS) was launched in response to local community concern and the academic need to address gaps in traditional monitoring regarding the ecological health and water quality of Windermere.

Over the last two and a half years, The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) and Lancaster University have collaborated with hundreds of community scientists and a range of funders to deliver ten Big Windermere Surveys, focussing on both the spatial and seasonal variation in water quality. During this time, an incredible ~5,000 bottles of water have been collected by our volunteers. Resulting in 1,020 processed samples, each analysed for 20 water quality parameters, providing an extensive dataset for understanding the health of the Windermere catchment.

For the first time since the project began, we have unfortunately been unable to secure funding to run the Winter 2025 survey in February this year. However, we are seeking options for continued funding for future surveys and hope to resume the survey in the spring.

Watch this space for the BWS two-year summary report

In the meantime, our ambition is to use the robust evidence generated by the BWS to complement existing monitoring efforts, to inform better, faster decision making, and to guide investment to improve water quality within the catchment. We are currently working on the development, publishing and dissemination of a two-year summary report focussed on what the data (so far!) tell us. This summary report will cover key findings from the surveys to date, including highlighting hotspots of concern, and will provide recommendations for next steps. We plan to make this independent report available in February / March 2025. Results, analysis and recommendations will be shared at an online knowledge exchange event, on the FBA and Lancaster University websites, and via social media channels.

The results collected across all ten individual BWS events to date can still be explored through interactive maps and summary reports.

The past two years of the BWS has highlighted the power of community-driven science in deepening our understanding of freshwater environments and promoting their stewardship. On behalf of all the BWS team, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has provided their unfaltering support for this impactful project, particularly our dedicated volunteers. It has been truly inspiring to work alongside so many individuals who care passionately about the future of one of the world’s truly great lakes and we look forward to continuing this journey with our citizen scientists in the future.

Simon Johnson, Emma Kelly, Dr Louise Lavictoire (Freshwater Biological Association) and Dr Ben Surridge (Lancaster University).