Fighting River Pollution – Citizen Science in action

Belinda Bawden, the River Lim Action Group and River Char Community Project

Tickets £10 Under 21s £5.

All proceeds will be donated to Dorset Climate Action Network. Extra donations can be given on the night. 

Please call 01308 459511 to reserve your tickets. Numbers are limited and tickets will be essential.

Everyone knows that Dorset’s rivers (like all rivers in England) are in poor overall health and this dire situation is set to get worse. One of the  main culprits are the water companies, which are releasing untreated sewage into them (and into the sea) for hundreds of hours a year. They are also failing to prevent effluent from illegal misconnections entering our water courses.  Despite progress on sewage treatment, illegal spills mean that things are worse for our rivers than they were just 10 years ago. Farm pollution, microplastics, forever chemicals, wet wipes, fatbergs and failure to invest enough in our drainage infrastructure add to the problems.  The regulators don’t seem to have any teeth and it’s down to public pressure on the water companies to get any action. Against that background, numbers of fish, kingfishers, water voles, dippers, dragonflies and other wildlife have fallen drastically in the same period. What’s going on and what can be done?

On 12th April we’ll hear from two Community Action Groups (one from the River Char and one from the River Lim) and from Green Party Councillor for Lyme Regis and Charmouth, Belinda Bawden, about the nature and scale of the problem. The talk will focus on the remarkable work being undertaken by local Citizen Scientists and River Radicals who have achieved significant changes and improvements in the last two years, shining a light on some of the murkier problems that we face. Their plans in store for the coming 12 months are truly inspiring.

More information from the Rivers Trust: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/6730f10b64184200b171a57750890643?item=3

Please call 01308 459511 to reserve tickets at £10 each (All ticket proceeds to https://www.dorsetcan.org)