'Citizen Scientists' to Look After UK River Pollution?

 There's real concern about the polluted state of all UK rivers. Pollution is particularly carried into these waterways, by run-off from agricultural land; discharges from privatised water companies and current or former (including old mine workings) industrial processes. The pollutants themselves may consist of  organic matter, herbicides, pesticides, metals and acid oxides. Monitoring such pollution may be carried out by government agencies as well as the privatised water companies. Quite complex equipment might be used to measure features like chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon. The health of a river can also, however, be assessed by looking at which organisms thrive or fail to thrive in its waters. Fish are an obvious focus for angling enthusiasts. Substantial numbers of fish deaths are often quickly reported to the media. One can also easily note the presence of dangerous algal blooms produced by eutrophication (caused by run-off containing excess nitrates from fertilizers and/or animal waste). Perhaps less obviously, one can also get a good idea of water quality, by looking at the invertebrates (worms, insects and molluscs) in water samples. These assessments only require simple dipping nets, sorting trays and organism identification keys. Freshwater invertebrates show differing sensitivities to pollutants and/or requirements for dissolved oxygen. These assessments can be (and are) carried out by 'citizen scientists' (concerned amateurs, working privately). Earthwatch has called for such data to be included in official monitoring reports, that attempt to track river population (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/03/uk-river-quality-citizen-scientist-testing). There appear to be several reasons for Earthwatch's call. Firstly, there all lots of rivers and their year-round monitoring requires lots of periodic assessments. Secondly, progressive cut backs to government bodies, like England's Environmental Agency, have markedly reduced independent water quality testing. Thirdly, some  privatised water companies appear untrustworthy in their reporting (or failing to report) collected data. One must, of course, ensure that the 'citizen scientists' are accurately reporting their findings. This shouldn't be too difficult with a little training. It's sad, however, that protecting rivers has become reliant on amateur enthusiasts.