August along the Wey
Another busy month!
This month Water Testing Weekend is 28th – 31st August
Please test between Friday 28th and Monday 31st August, and don’t forget to upload your results!
With the river running even lower than last month, you may notice higher or more concentrated levels of nutrients like nitrates and phosphates, so keep an eye out for algae blooms taking advantage of those conditions. The low flow and warmer water can also encourage bacteria, including E. coli, to persist in the water and bottom sediments.
On Sunday 30th August, we’ll be at Allee’s Meadow for our monthly water quality testing and riverfly invertebrate sampling session. It runs from 10am to around midday, and everyone is welcome to come along and learn the methods. Click here for directions.
What we have been up to…
Augmented reality sandbox
Each Monday of the school summer holiday, Alistair has (and will be!) set up at Dapdune Wharf with the augmented reality sandbox.
I popped down at the beginning of the month, having never seen it before, and I’m still not sure who had more fun, me or the children. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I really do urge you to go. You shape the sand into hills and valleys, stretch out your hand to make it rain, and watch as the projection changes colour to show how water actually moves through a landscape. It’s educational and genuinely great fun. And if you stopped by our stand while you were there, thank you for playing along with us!
Tillingbourne E. coli and eDNA testing
A couple of weeks ago, E. coli readings along the Tillingbourne were running higher than usual, with no typical explanations. There had been no heavy rainfall or livestock runoff, the things that would normally account for a rise like this. The good news is that readings dropped back down in some places last week, and we’re watching this week’s results closely.
The warm weather may be part of the story. E. coli is a bacterium, and warmer water creates the conditions bacteria need to grow. River levels are also much lower than normal, which could be a factor too. The best way to know for sure is exactly what we’re already doing: testing regularly, gathering reliable data, and watching for patterns over time.
Alongside the weekly E. coli testing on the Tillingbourne, our funding also covers environmental DNA (eDNA) testing, which can tell us whether the E. coli is coming from animals or from humans. Last week, Alistair and Anna collected eDNA samples using Trace Biomonitoring kits. We’ll share the results as soon as we have them!
Whatever the results show, it’s always worth following a few simple habits if you’re getting in the water: wash your hands afterwards, avoid going in if you have a cut or open wound, and try not to swallow the water. Good practice for any day on the river.
The Wey Landscape Partnership
The Wey Landscape Partnership brings together everyone working to protect the River Wey and its tributaries, part of the Thames river basin’s wider network of catchment partnerships that we take part in.
The partnership started about 15 years ago, with the River Wey Trust as a founding partner, and is hosted by Surrey Wildlife Trust and the South East Rivers Trust. Their vision is simple: a healthy, thriving catchment where anyone who cares can get involved, whether that’s a landowner, a local group, or someone who just loves the river. I’ve had the chance to sit in on a few of their meetings, and it’s reminded me just how much catchment thinking matters. We can look after our own stretch of water carefully, but water doesn’t stay put. It flows, mixes, and connects everything downstream, so thinking at the catchment level gets us so much further than working stretch by stretch.
On the ground, the partnership is doing the practical work: tackling sewage pollution and agricultural runoff, and clearing the barriers that stop fish from moving freely up and down the river.
A visit to the sewage works
Water Rangers, The River Wey Trust, and Zöe Franklin, MP for Guildford, recently spent a morning at the new sewage treatment works being built at Moorfield Road, in Guildford, and we came away feeling positive. It was great to see Zöe asking questions and getting stuck into the detail of how a sewage works like this comes together and the measures that have been taken to create better facilities for our community. To read more, click here.
Thursday packing parties
Testing demonstrations
Once a month on a Tuesday, I’ve been running a freshwater kit testing demonstration down by the river. The session starts in the lab with a quick introduction to Water Rangers and the River Wey Trust, a tour around the lab, and then we head to the water. These sessions are a great way to get started if you’re curious about volunteering with us. Thank you to everyone who showed up!
New lab leads
We set ourselves a target to find and train five new lab leads. This ensures the lab is always covered with trained volunteers who feel comfortable in the role and know exactly what is required.
We are very pleased to say that we had great new, willing, and dedicated volunteers who jumped at the chance. Thank you!
That said, there is always scope for more lab leads/volunteers. So if you think this is something you would like to do, please get in touch. No experience necessary.
Here is our latest volunteer, Ian.
What’s coming up
We’re already looking ahead to the Blitz on the 19th of September; please register for your ticket here. It’s one of our favourite events of the year, and we’d love to see you there!
Kick testing is happening at the end of this month too, so if you fancy getting your wellies wet and learning to identify what’s living on the riverbed, do join us.
And a small ask: if you have a freshwater test kit sitting in a cupboard that you’re not using anymore, please get in touch. We’d love to lend it on to someone who’s just getting started.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for everything you did with us this August. See you on the riverbank!
Want to know more and help?
If you’d like to know more about our weekly and monthly volunteering roles, have a look here. Sign up for sessions or register to become a volunteer by clicking here or send me an email!
We’re always open to funding grants, so if you know anyone or have any ideas, please get in touch.
And as always, we love hearing about what you’re up to on the water. Send us your stories from along the Wey, and we’ll share them with everyone.
See you on the water and happy testing,
Alex
