In collaboration with Wildfish , we monitor the water quality of the upper Avon Catchment, including the Rivers Wylye, Till and Nadder.

We do this by being part of Wildfish’s SmartRiver Programme . Our data collection hub is the largest in the UK with 34 sites fully analysed every Spring and Autumn and 10 years’ worth of data. The detailed and independent analysis of these samples costs well over £10,000 per annum and is a major cost to the WFA.

We work closely with Wessex Rivers Trust and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to support citizen science water quality testing across the catchment. We campaign and promote improving river quality by locally working with environmental interest groups, including local schools and children’s groups. With Wildfish, we have initiated legal challenges to polluters within the catchment using out SmartRivers data. We also lobby and promote the need for ecological and river water quality improvement.

We work closely with and support the various farming environmental cluster groups. We helping to prevent pollution and encourage a greater awareness of the importance of the Avon and its tributaries as globally rare and ecologically important chalk streams. The Avon Catchment has the highest international protection status as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and the UK’s highest standard as a Special Site of Scientific Importance (SSSI).