The Big River Watch
Help restore rivers and be part of our UK and Ireland-wide survey of river health
Did you know? There's a free and easy way to help our rivers
Twice a year we run Big River Watch weeks, inviting you to participate in a simple citizen science activity that helps build a picture of river health across the UK and Ireland.
The next Big River Watch will take place in spring 2025.
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.
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 and complete the quick survey today! However you love your river, Big River Watch is a chance to be part of the movement improving our freshwater spaces. With our app, you can contribute to a national data set that will help us build a picture of river health.
Taking part is easy:
- 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 in the survey. You can complete the Big River Watch at your favourite local spot, or get to know somewhere new.
- Step 3: Upload
Upload your Big River Watch survey. It's that simple to get involved!
Tell us about the things that you see with the survey - 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 our river specialists will analyze the results. We share data too, so that it can be used by other environmental organizations, journalists, and community groups 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.
Download the Big River Watch app
You'll need the free app to take part! Download it before you set off to complete your survey.
Watch your data flow in
The map below works best on a desktop or tablet. Exploring on mobile? Click here for the full-screen data dashboard.
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.
Over the past three Big River Watch weeks, we've all worked together to submit nearly 8,000 surveys of our rivers. You can explore some of the data and see how your local river stacks up in our new Big River Watch Data Dashboard.
Photos from the May 2024 Big River Watch
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 weeks.
Yes, while we're interested in getting as many of you involved over our bi-annual Big River Watch weeks 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. 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).
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! You can find social media posts, posters, graphics, images and more that you're welcome to use in our free, online Comms Pack here.
Volunteer with your local Rivers Trust
If you enjoyed being part of the Big River Watch, you can sign up to hear from your local Rivers Trust at the start of the survey in the app, or you can find your local trust on this map and sign up to their mailing lists or follow them on social media. They may have a range of different citizen science opportunities available to you, from things like water quality testing to freshwater invertebrate monitoring.
Sign up for the Great UK WaterBlitz!
Over the weekend of 20-23 September, our friends at EarthWatch are running The Great UK WaterBlitz - another great opportunity to become a citizen scientist and support rivers. We're supporting them in asking people across the UK to go out and measure the water quality of their local rivers with the free testing kit. Sign up for your kit today.
Yes. Please take a look at our health and safety pack here.
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!
See our privacy policy for the Big River Watch.
