Evidence and data to inform decision making

Michelle Walker and Lucy Butler

The Rivers Trust

Importance of data and evidence

Empowering people with knowledge

Developing a common understanding

Collaborative decision making Targeting

resources and driving action

Evaluating success

CaBA Data Package

80+ datasets in the CaBA Data Package

Examples of Key DatasetsEcological Status

Water Quality Issues

Pollution Incidents

Flood Risk from Rivers

Surface Water Flood Risk

Fisheries data

Open Data Portal Online http://theriverstrust.maps.arcgis.com/

Collaborative evidence sharing

Shared Information Platforms http://arcg.is/2lHwU8O

River Soar: Opportunity Mapping and Prioritising Actions

http://arcg.is/1T7pmZ6

Citizen Science: Local knowledge, data and evidence

Citizen Science Resource Packhttp://bit.ly/CaBAmon

www.catchmentbasedapproach.org/volunteer-monitoring

Haltwhistle Burn

River Watch Volunteers

Monitoring rainfall, river levels, flood events, water clarity, water quality

Sharing observations via social media, mobile apps, website

Used to design runoff management plans and improve flood models

Urban Pollution Monitoring

Trained volunteer task force

Respond to lower impact pollution incidents where EA unable to attend

Adopt a suspected polluting outfall and take a weekly survey to identify signs of pollution e.g. sewage fungus

Enable EA and Thames Water to trace misconnections

Identify misconnection hotspots

Test for man-made optical brighteners commonly found in washing detergents

Paper or linen is dipped into water and tested at the side of the river using a small UV torch, this takes less than 30 seconds

Identifying Misconnections

Litter monitoring

Water quality monitoring

http://www.thames21.org.uk/project/thames-river-watch/

Riverfly Partnership~ 100 partner organisations

Standard simple monitoring protocol

Volunteers take and analyse a kick sample in the field

Riverflies used as an indicator of water quality to identify pollution issues http://www.riverflies.org/

Freshwater WatchGlobal programme

Volunteers monitor key water quality parameters

Scientists analyse the results and provide feedback

Water Blitz days provide valuable overview of a whole catchment on a single day

https://freshwaterwatch.thewaterhub.org/

Turning information into action

Targeted tree planting based on multiple opportunities

Water Quality Catchment Assessments

WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE APPROACH https://youtu.be/R1RZ76otayc

Priority areas for catchment-based flood risk interventions

Areas suitable for restoration or creation of wetland

Mapping Ecosystem Services http://bit.ly/SevernESS

Sharing best practice http://bit.ly/CaBATools

York Observatory Water Quality Recorder:http://arcg.is/2jmBQRZ

Submitting your data

York Observatory River Photo Map:http://arcg.is/2jUlyk0

Thankyou for listening