Work by a group of community scientists in East Devon determined to improve one of the most polluted rivers in the county has forced the Environment Agency to take notice.
Fortnightly testing of the River Otter by the Otter Valley Association (OVA) volunteers, plus data from South West Water (SWW) and the Environment Agency (EA) has revealed no improvement in water quality over the last five years.
Richard Foord, MP for Honiton and Sidmouth, who is working with OVA members and River Otter Fisheries Association to highlight the poor water quality of the River Otter, hosted a meeting with the EA earlier this month, inviting acting area director Steve Marks to closely examine the data.
As a result, Mr Marks promised to help investigate differences between the EA data and the findings by OVA.
Peter Williams, from the Otter Valley Association, said: “We welcome the opportunity to work with the Environment Agency on this issue. Well-designed citizen science, such as ours, has enormous potential in supporting the work of government organisations like the Environment Agency.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We know just how important England’s rivers are to local communities and wildlife, and we welcome the role citizen science monitoring can play in improving our understanding of the environment.
“We are grateful to the Otter Valley Association for sharing their findings with us which will help inform our own insights into the River Otter.”
The MP for Honiton and Sidmouth welcomed the move for closer working between the environmental watchdog and OVA, who over the last 12 months has fortnightly tested the River Otter water at multiple locations.
Mr Foord said the middle to lower reaches of the river has for several years been rated “poor” by the EA, with discharges from sewage works a major contributing factor.
It is one of the most polluted rivers in Devon, particularly downstream of Honiton sewage treatment works.
Mr Foord, who spoke at the latest OVA meeting held in Ottery St Mary, was satisfied with the ‘encouraging’ meeting with Environment Agency on River Otter pollution.
He said: “The OVA has been continuing to test the Otter every two weeks at twelve locations up and down the river. This has been undertaken with volunteers for the past year; their data is frequently updated and very comprehensive.
“This data collected by the OVA, alongside information from South West Water and the Environment Agency, demonstrates that there has been no improvement in water quality over the last five years, and suggests the phosphate levels in the middle to lower reaches continue to be driven largely by sewage works discharges.”
He added: “At our latest meeting on 1 April, Acting Area Director for the Environment Agency, Steve Marks, promised to help investigate discrepancies between the EA data and that which has been gathered by the OVA. This is encouraging.”
