Northwich River Heroes receive Better Rivers Community Fund

River Ranger, Daniel Lynch from United Utilities joined Northwich River Heroes at the launch of their new Citizen Science water testing programme at the Grozone Community Garden on Saturday 20 April funded by the Better Rivers Community Fund.

Volunteers have been invited to take part in regular monitoring of the health of the towns two main rivers, the Weaver and the Dane as part of the Water Quality Monitoring Network. A grant of £1,075 has been provided by United Utilities to support the training and equipment to volunteer groups for collecting data on river health in the national scheme run by the Angling Trust. The group will be testing for nitrates and phosphates from sources such as sewage outflows, as well as ammonia from agricultural slurry run-off.

Northwich River Heroes founder and Cllr Lee Siddall said: ‘The launch of our Citizen Science initiative received overwhelming support from the community, highlighting the public’s strong desire for accountability and healing of our natural resources.’

Emma Birch, Area Engagement Manager for United Utilities said: ‘We are pleased to have been able to support Councillor Siddall’s initiative and look forward to continuing engagement with Northwich River Heroes and the wider community to build a stronger, greener, healthier region.’