RIVER Arrow & Alne Revival (RAAR) and Alcester Court Leet have started regular water quality testing on the River Arrow at Pebbly Beach near Jubilee Playing Fields.
The testing uses a kit purchased by the court leet and will now take place weekly, with officers carrying out the monitoring as part of the RAAR volunteer programme.
The monitoring forms part of the wider citizen science programme run by Safe Avon, which supports community groups across the Avon catchment to collect consistent water quality data and establish baseline information about river conditions.
Eleanor Cooke is joined by Alcester Court Leet’s Sharon Constable and Leanne Slater. Picture by Marcus Mingins 0926010MMR2
The data collected is uploaded to the Safe Avon website where it is publicly available alongside results from other monitoring sites across the catchment.
The first test was carried out by the high bailiff Sharon Constable, brook looker Leanne Slater along with RAAR founder and director Eleanor Cooke.
“The court is pleased to support the RAAR initiative to introduce regular water testing in our local rivers.
“By purchasing the first testing kit for this work, we hope to help establish a practical and lasting effort to monitor and protect the health of our waterways for the benefit of the community.
“This commitment reflects Alcester’s long civic tradition.
“In medieval times the brook looker was responsible for inspecting the town’s brooks and rivers to ensure they remained clean and suitable for residents.
“In supporting this modern testing programme, we see ourselves as continuing that historic duty – applying today’s tools and knowledge to safeguard our rivers for the future,” said Sharon Constable.
Eleanor Cooke added: “Rivers are the lifeblood of our landscape, but most of the time we don’t have a clear picture of what’s happening in them.
“By collecting regular data, local communities can begin to build that understanding and take better care of the places that matter to them.
“Real community power grows when people come together as river neighbours, not just in Alcester but across the Arrow and Alne catchments, to care for the rivers that connect us.”
RAAR hopes to expand testing to several sites along both the River Arrow and the River Alne as more volunteers get involved.
The community interest company joins the growing number of community groups across the UK that are forming to take direct action to protect rivers from raw sewage discharges, chemical pollution, drought, flooding, and habitat loss.
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More information can also be found here.
