Water quality survey to run despite end of grants

The survey has run since 2022

A citizen science water quality project, which previously was funded by grants, will go ahead this summer after organisers said they would pay for it themselves.

The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) has completed eight rounds of water quality surveys in Windermere, Cumbria, since 2022.

This year it failed to raise the funds it previously had from bodies such as the Environment Agency (EA), National Trust and Westmorland and Furness Council.

The National Trust said it was "unable to fully fund the survey", the council said its water budget for Windermere had already been allocated and the EA said it had to "make tough decisions about where to allocate our funding".

Windermere, England's largest lake, is ecologically important and home to rare fish species such as the Arctic charr.

In May, the BBC revealed millions of litres of raw sewage had been illegally pumped into the lake earlier in the year.

For the quarterly survey, run alongside Lancaster University, volunteers collect water samples from more than 100 different locations which are then analysed for nutrient and bacterial levels.

'Financial cost'

In June, the FBA launched a campaign to raise the £30,000 required for this summer's survey.

A FBA spokesperson said at the time the group was trying to establish a "blended funding model" to buffer against the fluctuating availability of financing from charities and other groups.

But earlier this month it said it had only raised about £8,500 and so would fund the survey itself.

"This is a decision that comes at a financial cost," a spokesperson said, adding that the group hoped to find a way to sustainably fund the project for the years to come.

The National Trust said it had stepped in last summer to fund the survey but could not do so this year.

It said the survey was a "vital example of citizen science in action" and that its staff and volunteers would be involved in the project.

Westmorland and Furness Council said it was committed to the "goal of improving water quality in Windermere" but its budget for such issues had already been allocated this year, including £41,000 for the FBA.

"[This] meant that we were unable to provide additional support for the summer survey," it said.

The survey will run on 8 September.