The UK’s first-ever Autumn Water Watch has been launched to help assess the health and quality of the nation’s freshwater environments.

Running from Friday 14 October until Sunday 16 October, the Autumn Water Watch calls on people up and down the UK to spend just 15 minutes observing their local waters in the form of a citizen science survey.

Autumn Water Watch is the first ever nationwide observational study of our freshwater environments, building a coherent, consistent and comprehensive picture of the state of our waterways in real-time.

The project is run by Planet Patrol and covers rivers, canals, streams or lake –  any freshwater environment. The team launching the initiative said

‘Water is central to the health, well-being and livelihood of everyone on this planet. In the UK, the biggest risk to water quality is the ongoing lack of sampling, monitoring and reporting. The impact on both human health and the ecosystems that rely on them are still largely unobserved and unreported.

With not one UK river in an overall state of “good” health, it has become imperative to monitor our waterways.

Right now we have a monumental information gap that needs to be urgently filled, and that can be started through simple observations – something we can all do.’ 

For further information on how to take part in Planet Patrol’s Autumn Water Watch, click here.