Our new riverfly system for South Cumbria Rivers Trust and Becks to Bay is here!

Head on over to South Cumbria Rivers Trust’s website to see the new results dashboard.

Riverfly surveys are a vital part of monitoring the water quality of our catchments. Riverflies form part of the aquatic food chain and respond rapidly to changes in water quality. Therefore, by monitoring the abundance of a select number of riverfly groups we are able to identify if there has been a significant pollution event in a beck or river and report this to the Environment Agency as a pollution incident. However, just as importantly these monthly surveys mean we are out and about keeping an eye on our rivers and observing any changes, it’s also a lovely way to spend a morning or afternoon.

We are very grateful to the fantastic team of volunteers who undertake these across South Cumbria, where we have been undertaking riverfly surveys for nearly 10 years. These are part of a wider national riverfly initiative (find out more here). This new system displays our results locally, enabling us to see directly what is going on in South Cumbria. All results are also shared with the national partnership.

Interested in becoming a riverfly volunteer? Please get in touch as we run a number of training events in spring/ summer.