Volunteers are required to form a Riverfly Monitoring Group for the Lower Lea.

Would you like to;

• Learn a new skill?
• Get to know the wildlife of your local river?
• Meet new people?
• Collect valuable water quality data?
• Discourage polluters?
• Join a successful national citizen science scheme?

Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust have received funding through the Environment Agency to help establish a Riverfly Group on the Lower Lea which would form part of the existing Hertfordshire and Chilterns Riverfly Hub, already actively working to monitor pollution in the Lea Catchment.

The Riverfly Monitoring Initiative is a national scheme developed by the Riverfly Partnership to train local volunteers to sample and identify river invertebrates, such as caddisflies, mayflies, stoneflies and freshwater shrimps. The number and type of these invertebrates gives a good indication of water quality, and a sudden decline in their numbers indicates that pollution has occurred.

Once trained, volunteers monitor a site on their local river each month (taking about 2 hours). If pollution is suspected, the Environment Agency are notified.

Training workshops for the Lower Lea are likely to run in Summer 2016.

For more information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., HMWT Living Rivers Officer