The Big River Watch expands citizen science and river data collection

Over the weekend, which included World Rivers Day on Sunday, the Rivers Trust has convened The Big River Watch – it asked volunteers to observe their local river for 15 minutes and record the information.

Participants could download a free app, which took them through a series of questions including on plants, wildlife, flow levels, pollution and wellbeing.

The results will form a data set on river health, “the likes of which has never been created before,” the Trust said. This will include shedding light on which problems are most prevalent and where, and helping to direct improvements and policy change.

Tessa Wardley, director of communication and advocacy at The Rivers Trust, said: “All across the UK and Ireland, we know that people are demanding better for their rivers, but the current lack of data on them prevents us from fully understanding what state they are in, and how that can be improved. The Big River Watch will put river data in the hands of communities; they will be at the heart of the data collection in the first place, and then all the results will be free and accessible for everyone to use.”

The Big River Watch was developed by The Rivers Trust and other partner organisations within CaSTCo, a project creating a national framework for improving river health data, with citizen scientists at the heart. It is an important tool to support CaSTCo in introducing new and diverse audiences to river science and to encourage accessible engagement and diverse recruitment of volunteers.