• News and events home
• News
• Events
• Features
• Press Office contacts

Huge citizen science project will tackle “cocktail of chemical and microbial contaminants” in region’s waterways

Posted on 12 December 2024

A University of York-led citizen science project will monitor and tackle the “toxic cocktail of chemicals” in the region’s rivers and lakes.

More than 1,700 members of the public will be asked to take part in the ambitious project, improving the region's waterways

More than 1,700 members of the public will be asked to take part in the ambitious scheme, believed to be the largest citizen science project of its type. The public will be working alongside academics, government officials, charities and business groups as part of the innovative research. 

Practical action

The project will carry out  monitoring of the region’s waterways, helping to raise awareness and also take practical action to improve the  aquatic environment - benefitting biodiversity and people. 

Researchers will co-produce novel citizen science methods that go beyond traditional measurements such as phosphate, nitrate, and pH. Instead, the project will focus on priority micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals and bacterial species. Together, the methods will form a harmonised citizen science toolkit that underpins data generation across nine Yorkshire waterbodies.

Data generation

Dr John Wilkinson, from the University of York’s Department of Environment and Geography said: “Equipping local communities with both knowledge and skills is at the heart of this project and will help us transform the way people can protect waterways.

“We have co-developed six priority questions based on public concerns which form the basis of our research. These questions not only cover the state of Yorkshire’s aquatic environment and how it can be improved, but also how the process of aquatic citizen science can be made more trustworthy, inclusive, and sustainable. 

Accurate toolkits

“By equipping the public with an accurate and easy-to-use environmental monitoring toolkit we can surpass the limited spatiotemporal capacity of academic and regulatory environmental monitoring. This will create a step-change in the data available to understand environmental pollution and we will use this to quantify where and how environmental action should take place in the future.”

There are almost 1,000 regional water bodies in Yorkshire, but according to the Environment Agency none achieved a ‘good’ ecological or chemical status report. In fact, after centuries of manipulation and neglect academics believe Yorkshire’s rivers and lakes have a “toxic problem” involving a cocktail of pollutants. From the 982 water bodies monitored, 27 have the worse possible rating and none have the best rating. 

Valued biodiversity

Dr Wilkinson explained: “These are places of valued biodiversity, public health benefit, and resources from which we extract our drinking water. Healthy aquatic environments positively impact both ecological and human health, as evidenced by surveys we conducted showing Yorkshire’s public appreciation for social, recreational, spiritual, and mental health activities near water. 

“However, increasing aquatic pollution hinders ecological health and public use of water bodies, jeopardising biodiversity and the positive benefits these environments foster in our communities. This is exacerbated by recent reductions in funding for Environment Agency monitoring, highlighting an urgent need for innovative approaches to environmental monitoring/management amid growing public outrage. solutions can best mitigate the problem."

Positive steps

“There are reasons to be hopeful with this project. By ensuring and verifying quality, we will influence a paradigm shift that increases the value of citizen science data and opens the door for incorporation into already-stressed regulatory monitoring schemes. Unifying our collective voice across the public, academic and industrial sectors provides us with the best opportunity yet to effect meaningful change to the benefit of our much-valued aquatic environments.”

The research will explore the feasibility and effectiveness of ideas to improve the water quality in Yorkshire’s rivers and lakes. Solutions could be nature-based such as constructed wetlands;  infrastructural, such as improving leaky combined sewage overflows; or stewardship-based with farmers or landowners working to reduce agricultural run-off. The team will also explore community-based solutions, such as elevating the public voice to lobby for change. 

Prioritising solutions

The University of York will lead on running an annual State of Yorkshire’s Aquatic Environments conferences around the region as part of the research. These events will give public, government, academic, and business groups to get together to share findings, prioritise solutions and chart a path forward.

Louise Heathwaite, Executive Chair of NERC, said: "The NERC Engaged Environmental Science programme will address critical environmental challenges such as flooding, coastal erosion, and water pollution. 

Enhancing habitats

“For the first time we have awarded funding to three projects that will be co-led by local communities and scientists. By working together in new and innovative ways, they will develop natural solutions that protect and enhance natural habitats along the river Mersey, in Yorkshire and in the Outer Hebrides."

Collaborative working will be crucial for the legacy of the research. The University of York is working with the Environment Agency and Rivers Trust to lead the research. 

Fundamental changes

Geoff Roberts, trustee with the Aire Rivers Trust, said: "Citizen science is a powerful way of both engaging communities with their environment and gathering useful scientific data to help identify problems and solutions. We look forward to playing the active part in this exciting project."

David Miles, community engagement lead at Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods, said: "The Friends of Gledhow valley woods are delighted to be involved with this initiative. It will transform our understanding of water pollution in the Gledhow valley and promote much needed action to bring about fundamental change to water quality in our local beck, for the benefit of both nature and the local community."

A pivotal time

Dr Wilkinson added: “What we’re going to do with this project is use new and innovative tools to not only bring the public into the process of monitoring the state of our aquatic environments but also to help us prioritise solutions together.

“This work will run for four years from this autumn and is happening at a crucial time. We’ve seen increases in both aquatic pollution incidents as well as a marked increase in public concern over the state of our water bodies. This all comes as the budget for the Environment Agency has been significantly reduced. We have a real opportunity here to bring people, policymakers and business together in Yorkshire to make a lasting difference to our waterbodies.”

Explore more news