Previous Spotlights

The Environment Agency was an active partner of Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo), an Ofwat innovation project led by The Rivers Trust and United Utilities.

Our citizen science leads have provided expert guidance from the start, advising how community science can complement professional catchment monitoring. The partnership has shown how communities, regulators, and water companies can collect and use evidence together to improve river health.

See the case studies from the demonstration catchments.

CaSTCo's Impact Report highlights the scale of collaboration and the benefits of keeping this momentum going.

In September, Environment Agency Chair, Alan Lovell, took park in The Rivers Trust's Big River Watch and Earthwatch Europe's Great UK WaterBlitz – alongside Environment Agency Monitoring Manager Kerry Sims and thousands of volunteers across the country.

Citizen science bridges the gap between professional monitoring and community action. While our teams work tirelessly to monitor England's water environment, we can't be everywhere at once. That's where citizen scientists come in, providing local insights and real-time observations that help us build a complete picture of river health.