Saturday 23rd to Friday 29th June
The River Avon Catchment
Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) are excited to announce the 2018 Bristol Avon WaterBlitz, a campaign to collect as many water quality samples as possible in a week from across the Bristol Avon Catchment.
Our rivers are the central artery of the West of England with a fascinating history, beautiful scenery and stunning wildlife. Water quality in rivers across the country have been a key conservation issue over the last few decades and efforts to monitor and clean up our rivers mean that otters, kingfishers and water voles are all making comebacks on the banks of the Avon and its tributaries. However, water quality is still a massive challenge and BART need your help to fill the gaps in our knowledge.
Thanks to funding from the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership, BART is working in partnership with FreshWater Watch, a global programme developed by the environmental NGO, Earthwatch. This charity aims to connect people with science and nature, engaging people in citizen science to build up a wealth of research data collected by volunteers from all over the world. BART are asking individuals and community groups to take part in the WaterBlitz and help to collect as many water quality samples as possible (last year they had 376 people involved!) within the Bristol Avon catchment, including Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North East Somerset.
Using the free and simple to use water testing kit, volunteers can sample their chosen river or stream in the Bristol Avon catchment and upload the results to FreshWater Watch to compare the water quality level to other sites on an interactive results map.
Registration will be open for this event on Friday 1st June, however in the meantime please feel free to email BART Project Officer Alec to be informed when registration opens: alec@bristolavonriverstrust.org
