Looking back on our #TeamWilder forums, a common concern coming from all our forums was water pollution and the quality of our rivers, canals, lakes and seas. In true #TeamWilder style, some of our local communities have been taking on their own initiatives to monitor the water quality in their area. 

When Lee Copplestone started with the Nextdoor Nature project in June 2023 as a Community Organiser, he met a small group of Attleborough residents doing independent litter-picks at ad hoc times which best suited them. This group became the core of the new Friends of Wembrook. The group shared their concerns about nature and wildlife and told us their litter picking activity was in part motivated by wanting to protect wildlife from the hazards that rubbish creates in the environment. 

Listening to residents it became clear some were also worried the run-off from the local housing development might be adversely affecting the water quality of Wem Brook and impact negatively on wildlife. With his previous background in water quality testing and using his Riverfly training, Lee arranged to do a kick-survey with the group in September, to identify and count which water insects were living in the brook as a measure of the water quality. 

The number of insects and the diversity of species found in a watercourse gives a good indication of water quality, as some species are less pollution-tolerant than others. The results were interesting with only a few species present and not in great numbers, although we did find a single fish, a bullhead, which is an important food source for kingfishers.

Thanks to funding through the County Council, the group of residents managed to get their own Riverfly kits and are doing regular kick-surveys for aquatic invertebrates on their local brook, without the need to borrow equipment from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.  

There are a number of groups in the South Warwickshire area monitoring the quality of their waterways and reporting the findings to the Environment Agency.