Wye pollution: River charity in appeal for citizen scientists

The River Wye runs through Wales, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire

A river charity is crowdfunding to support citizen scientists analysing water pollution.

River Action said citizen scientists were needed to gather data that is not being produced by authorities.

The project will monitor pollution in the River Wye, which flows through Wales, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, and nearby River Lugg.

As England's rivers were called a "chemical cocktail", over half of the Wye has failed to meet pollution goals.

River Action is hoping to raise £20,000 to support the work of volunteers who monitor levels of pollution along the river.

The money will be pay for the equipment needed to collect water samples and analyse it and also pay for a worker from the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust to manage the project.

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"Our citizen scientists are essentially the front-line troops in the war against the pollution crisis facing our rivers," Charles Watson, from River Action, said.

"The data these projects produce is vital to the fight against river pollution, giving us the crucial information needed to show governments and polluters the shocking extent to which our rivers are dying."

Volunteer groups say rivers are not tested often enough by authorities

Earlier this month, MPs warned that raw sewage, microplastics and slurry were coursing through all of England's rivers.

Their report found budget cuts to the Environment Agency were hampering its ability to stem the pollution but highlighted areas the government was tackling.

In December, a volunteer group dedicated to cleaning up the Wye received almost £10,000 in lottery funding for a similar project.

Friends of the Upper Wye said the funding would pay for equipment to test for phosphate and nitrate content as well as gauging the river's temperature and conductivity.