It's #WorldRiversDay today and my pledge to the River Darwen is that I will continue to fight for better control of stormwater pollution in British Rivers. What pledge will you make to your local river today?

Most road runoff filtration systems are made by UK companies - so investing in tackling road runoff would be investing in UK jobs, wildlife, rivers + water security, as @stormwater-jo.bsky.social explains in our joint podcast with @planetpossible.bsky.social: 2/ podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

Lead, mercury, tyre crumb, plastics, PAHs - a toxic sludge of chemicals surges off roads, into rivers, unfiltered, inundating fish + wildlife, every time it rains @stormwater-jo.bsky.social warms MPs. It's not monitored + little is done to prevent it. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Exciting times! Working with Aquawatch, we have a pair of water quality monitors in the River Darwen, measuring the size of the pollution caused by the M6 runoff. We want to see if simple analysis of turbidity & conductivity can pick up the pollution caused by the motorway runoff. 🧐

Yesterday, we witnessed caseless caddis fly larvae biting the caudal llamellae off a Banded Demoiselle larva and apparently eating them. I wonder if any entomologists working on aquatic invertebrates have ever seen this before? Thanks Samuel Gibson who helped me with the sampling

250 of the highest risk road runoff outfalls in England are within 500 metres of a Site of Specific Scientific Interest including protected rivers-with mercury, arsenic & other chemical horrors belting into waterways, according to data obtained by @endsreport.com www.endsreport.com/article/1911...

🧵Jo Bradley from Stormwater Shepherd, @stormwater-jo.bsky.social said National Highways’ plan for water quality is “woefully inadequate, and leaves thousands of highway outfalls with no prospect of the installation of treatment schemes for years to come”... www.endsreport.com/article/1911...

“We don't understand the pollution and we're doing nothing about it” 📹 @stormwater-jo.bsky.social This Thursday, ENDS will be showing exclusive footage and hosting a live webinar on the lesser-known pollutants choking England’s rivers Register for free ➡️ ends-report.wavecast.io/dead-in-the-...

This discharge from the M6 near Wigan enters the Leeds/Liverpool canal. Highway runoff should never discharge to canals because all the contaminated sediment & dissolved toxins accumulate around the discharge point, poisoning the local environment.

“It's not easy to be exact, but studies estimate that tires create anywhere from 10-28% of the world's microplastic pollution, according to National Geographic. These particles don't just disappear — they end up in our water, our soil, and our bodies.”

If you’re interested to find highway outfalls that are polluting your river, now’s the time 🕰️. In a few weeks, this one will be concealed in undergrowth, but by locating it now, I’ve given myself the best change of finding it again in the rain ☔️ in the Spring when the vegetation is up to my ears 👂🏻

Research in Canada is underway to investigate the harm caused to fish eggs by road salt applications during the winter. The results have not been peer-reviewed yet, but they have found evidence of significant effects on the fish eggs. science.ubc.ca/news/january...

Well done humanity. For it is us who have caused this rapid warming of the planet, and the devastating consequences for people and ecosystems that are so visible today and every day. theconversation.com/my-new-dark-...

🌳 Scraps of woodland in Bristol on/near the Avon in St Anne’s. I want to make sure these go to good owners but don’t have anything like enough funds or beans to run this all myself with Bath / Warleigh acquisition going through soon. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 24% of earth’s freshwater animals are at risk of extinction. With marine animals playing a vital role in the wider ecosystem, the time for climate action is now critical. Read the full report - iucn.org/press-releas...

We’ve made it to Bluesky! Please give us a follow and share - we post positive solutions offering hope for tackling the nature and climate emergencies🌱

One more day of 20% off absolutely everything!🤓🤩🥳 www.charlottestrawbridge.co.uk/art

A really exciting job opportunity working with me at Welsh Dee Trust. Head of project delivery. This role will have oversight of the delivery of all projects at Welsh Dee Trust and will make a significant impact upon the restoration of the Dee. Please share www.welshdeetrust.com/we-are-hirin...

Hi fellow ecologists! Do you know of any labs or research institutes that might have, or will have, open positions in amphibian research or conservation? Thanks!

I’ve added new people to this list, is there anyone else I’ve missed? Please share go.bsky.app/Bs811RP

Our December newsletter is out now! 🙌 New Riverfly merch, data reports, ‘Meet the monitor’ and more! Follow the the link below where you can also sign up to our newsletters⬇️ www.riverflies.org/newsletters

🧵Pond soundscapes are bursting with life and mysterious sounds! Aquatic insects rub hard body parts together to attract mates and submerged plants release oxygen bubbles as they respire in the hot sun.

145 species of spider from the six visits to this dairy farm, 17 of which have conservation status. Gonna take a while to write these species accounts. There are 31 beetles with status!

Forget Black Friday - try Buy Nothing Day instead. Today I will buy absolutely nothing. No plastic, no packaging to throw away, no tat, no food waste and nothing to add to our rubbish. Less consumption is the answer to so many of our problems - try it, just for a day. Image: nationaltoday.com

There used to be a dam here, replaced by a artificial rapids in 2020. Nothing was planted on the shores. Instead, we just decided to wait. This is how it looked a month ago after four years of natural plant dispersal. The photos are from 5.9.2020 and 24.9.2024. River Mätäjoki, Helsinki, Finland.

The single largest source of microplastics in the ocean is road runoff pollution. Microplastics, mainly from car tyres, are washed off our roads into storm drains, into rivers, out to sea, every time it rains. 🧵

I spotted this solution being installed today for a car-park extension at a farm shop. The owner was happy with it and the installers said it was light & easy to handle. A good solution for permeable parking 🤔 I like it, but what do you think? #SustainableDrainage

There are ~40 motorway outfalls into the upper reaches of the River Douglas catchment in Lancashire. Together, they drain 157 hectares of motorway surface into the River. That’s about 470 tonnes of toxic sediment washed into the River every year. #StormwaterPollution

Imagine the volume of road runoff entering the Lea from all those roads crossing it. Our Watershed Pollution Map shows National Highways outfalls on the M25 - but many smaller roads will be contributing runoff pollution to the Lea - records for those, patchier, sit with various local authorities

Why, Oh why will it take until 2027 to deliver a Deposit Return Scheme? I despair. 700,000 plastic bottles are littered EVERY DAY in the UK. Some of them wash into rivers and oceans. What on Earth are we waiting for?? #PlasticPollution www.gov.uk/government/p...

Our article on road runoff pollution in @guardian featuring the very lovely Jo Bradley of Stormwater Shepherds www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Things have sunk pretty low when, at a meeting to discuss tackling climate change, it's a fight to get delegates to concede "transition away from fossil fuels" might have a part to play

For anyone ion the #Glasgow area this weekend... my daughter Charlotte @cstrawbridgeart.bsky.social has a stall at the Glasgow Christmas Fair - and would love to see you! Loads more wonderful artists and makers, too 👇 #art #ceramics #printmaking #textiles

This discharge from the M6 to a tributary of Syd Brook causes horrific, toxic pollution every time it rains. We could only find water fleas & blood worms living here. A complete failure of regulation. #ItsNotAllAboutTheSewage

We had the best ever ‘gatecrashers’ during our recent site tour of the excellent SuDS wetland at Firs Farm in Enfield. I hope they were listening carefully while Jamie told us all about the design and installation of the scheme 🪿🪿🪿

A lump of chalk on a frosty morning demonstrating its ability to store water. Unfortunately Affinity Water currently take 53% of all available water from the upper Ivel catchment, up to 14 million litres per day! @beneath-b-waters.bsky.social @stormwater-jo.bsky.social @welshriversunion.bsky.social

Applications of road salt mobilise toxic metals that are lurking in the drainage system. They are washed into rivers & streams as the snow melts and they are toxic to fish & aquatic insects #StormwaterPollution

Something a bit different for me today, talking about dirty water from construction sites. Another source of #StormwaterPollution that is often overlooked. Well done to RVT Group for bringing this event together 👍🏻

Don’t be fooled by the beauty. Snowmelt causes #StormwaterPollution too 🌨️

Rats in SuDS 🐀 I’ve started to notice more rat-bait-boxes in SuDS devices. I wonder how we manage our rapid roll out of urban green spaces without bringing ‘unwanted’ wildlife along-for-the-ride? Or should we just learn to embrace the rats? 🤗🐀

Highway runoff causes horrific pollution of rivers every time it rains. This outfall in Lancashire discharges toxic, hazardous substances into the River Lostock, causing it to fail to meet env. standards. These substances are toxic to the invertebrates living in the river. #StormwaterPollution