The Big River Watch
Find out how to get involved with our new UK and Ireland-wide survey of river health.
Did you know? There's a free and easy way to help support your local river! Twice a year we run Big River Watch weekends - a simple citizen science activity launched to help build a picture of river health across the UK and Ireland. The spring Big River Watch is taking place between 3rd - 6th May 2024.
Our rivers are far from healthy. They're polluted with sewage, plastic, chemicals and nutrients, and just 15% of river stretches in England are in good overall health. This isn't good enough. We need healthy rivers for wildlife and for our own wellbeing, we need healthy rivers to help our landscapes handle our changing climate, and we need healthy rivers to ensure we have a reliable water supply for the future.
When it comes to restoring our rivers, we need even more information about how they're doing. You can help us identify and locate the issues.
So whether you’re a swimmer or a paddler, an angler or a rambler, a wildlife spotter or a sit-and-watch-er, download the app today! However you love your river, Big River Watch is a chance to be part of the movement improving our freshwater spaces. In just three easy steps, you can contribute to a national data set that will help us build a picture of river health.
Over 5,000 of you took part in our first ever Big River Watch weekend on the 22-24th of September 2023, working together to submit over 3,600 surveys. The results from that weekend showed that almost 60% of you were new to citizen science and 73% of you thought your river looked healthy, but 54% of you also spotted signs of pollution. Help us grow the survey and learn more about our rivers in our spring Big River Watch weekend, between 3rd - 6th - May. We're better when we're #TogetherForRivers.
How does Big River Watch work?
- Step 1: Download the app
Download the free Big River Watch app on your smartphone before visiting your chosen river.
- Step 2: Take part
Pick a riverside location, spend 15 minutes observing and answer the questions on the survey. You can complete the Big River Watch at your favourite local spot, or choose to get to know somewhere new.
- Step 3: Upload
Upload your Big River Watch survey. It's that simple to get involved!
You'll tell us about the things that you see - from wildlife and plants, to the flow speed of the water and whether you can spot any pollution. If you don't know what you're looking at, use our handy in-app ID guides for pollution and wildlife.
Then, we'll gather up all of your results and our river specialists will get busy analyzing the information. We'll share data too, so that it can be useful not just for us at The Rivers Trust; other environmental organizations, journalists or community groups can also use it to help in the fight for healthier, wilder rivers.
The app and survey are open year-round, so you can keep recording useful information about your local river at any time, if you wish.
Share your experience and your photos on social media using #BigRiverWatch.
Ready to get involved? Download the free Big River Watch app
Why is Big River Watch needed?
Rivers are suffering from a deluge of pollution, and all across the UK and Ireland our vital freshwater ecosystems are failing their health tests. To change this, we need to know where our rivers are having the problems and which problems are the most prevalent. The free and open Big River Watch survey is your chance to make a difference. Data gathered during Big River Watch can support policy change; helping turn the tide on plastics or stem the flow of untreated sewage. It also helps identify the best places for river clean-ups and litter picks, or places which would benefit the most from the creation of things like wetlands.
Here are some of the photos that you took whilst taking part in the Big River Watch in September 2023
Where did you get involved in September?
The map below shows where Big River Watch surveys were submitted during our September 2023 weekend. Perhaps you can spot your survey? This spring, we'd love to see even more dots on the map. If you live in an area where data hasn't already been gathered, why not help us fill it?
FAQs
No, you do not need to be an existing volunteer with a local Rivers Trust or NGO. This app and experience are open to everyone - you just have to be able to access a river in the UK or Ireland during one of our Big River Watch Weekends.
Yes, while we're interested in getting as many of you involved over our bi-annual Big River Watch Weekends to get a clear snapshot of river health at to points repeated in the year, the app and survey will also remain open to collect data year-round. So, if you run a volunteer group or you're interested in continuing to add information about your local river to the dataset, you can use the app at any time.
No. You do not need existing experience or knowledge on river health or river environments. In fact, we'd love for people who don’t know much about rivers yet to participate too.
Absolutely. You do not need to be a tech whizz, but you will need a smartphone that you can install apps on.
Yes. You will need to be able to visit a river in person during the weekend of the 22-25th September. It doesn't matter where you live, or whether your local river runs through a city, town or the countryside, as long as you complete the survey whilst looking at it.
A river is generally too wide for anyone to jump across (greater than 1.5m wide).
When rivers thrive, we thrive, but when rivers suffer, so do we. 0% of rivers in England and Northern Ireland are in ‘good’ overall condition. Rivers are suffering from sewage, plastic, chemical and nutrient pollution. To change this, more data is needed. We need to know where our rivers are having the problems, and which problems are the most prevalent. By sparing just 15 minutes, everyone can be part of the solution. Data gathered can support policy change; helping turn the tide on plastics or stem the flow of untreated sewage that reaches our waterways. It also helps identify the best places for river clean-ups, and spots to install things like leaky dams which slow the flow, boost biodiversity and reduce flood risk!
We know some of you may not own a smart phone and so we have created this offline Word version for you to use. Just simply fill it in and send it back to us [email protected].
Please note that you must read and agree to the Health and Safety Guidance before taking part, which can be found here.
Yes. Please take a look at our health and safety pack here.
See our privacy policy for the Big River Watch.
