Smart Rivers 2022-2025 Report Released

SmartRivers is a national citizen science scheme run by WildFish. It involves kick sampling for aquatic invertebrates, and laboratory identification and analysis. As species have different sensitivities to stressors, this data is put through metrics to measure different pressures such as silt, phosphates, chemicals etc.   

We have been conducting SmartRivers for four years on the Chess, and you can now see the full results in the report below. 

Overall the results have been fairly stable, but do reveal times of stress. We are hoping that as we continue to restore the Chess that we will see further improvements. Thanks to everyone who helps collect SmartRivers samples every Spring and Autumn, if you want to get involved, please email chesscs@chilterns.org.uk.