Upper Hyndburn RiverBlitz: Riverfly Surveys

When and where?

Thurday 28th May, 10 am – 4.00 pm.

Meet:  Stanhill Methodist Church, 5 Nab Ln, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington, BB5 4PT

Why?

This event will investigate water and habitat quality in around the Upper Hyndburn Catchment, an area used for farming, mining, quarrying, and textiles. Within this catchment, we are collaborating with the Prospects Foundation on the Brookside Restoration Project, click the link for more information: Brookside Restoration Project - Ribble Rivers Trust

The information that we will collect on the day will help Ribble Rivers Trust to assess the impacts of the Brookside Restoration Project, and to also identify other areas of the catchment that require our help.

This in turn will help to direct the efforts of our River Conservation, Land Management and Education and Engagement Teams, to ensure we direct our efforts where they could make the greatest impact.

What will the day involve for Riverfly samplers?

• Refreshments will be available all day. Arrive at 10 am to grab a brew and biscuit(s) before we start at 10.15 am.
• There will be a short introduction session in the morning (starting at 10.15 am) giving some background to why we are monitoring and explaining the methods we intend to use. We will then split up into small groups and head to pre-determined river sites.
• At each site, each group will carry out a standard kick sample survey to be brought back to the venue. One back at the venue, you will be using the Extended Riverfly key (which focuses on 33 groups of species) to identify which invertebrates are present in your sample(s), and in what abundances. Don't worry if have only experience with identifying the eight groups needed for the Riverfly Monitoring Initiative surveys: staff will be on hand to help you ID any groups you're unsure about.
• If time allows, we will compare results at the end of the afternoon.
• We will send a summary of the results round within the fortnight after the event. Scroll to the bottom of this page for the summary of the findings from a previous RiverBlitz in the Wigglesworth Beck catchment.

Other important info:

• Please bring your own packed lunch.
• Most of the survey sites will require a short drive to get to them. Please indicate whether you will have a vehicle on the day that you would be happy to use to travel to the survey site. If you do not have a vehicle, we will make sure to partner you up with someone who does.
• Please bring clean wellies (at least one person in each group will need to go into the river) and be prepared for all weathers.
• A full risk assessment has been completed for this type of event. Please have a read of it before the event: ribbletrust.org.uk/Risk-Assessment-Stock-Beck-RiverBlitz.pdf
• Please download (if possible) the app 'what3words' before the event. It'll help you to locate your allocated survey sites.

The Hyndburn RiverBlitz is being advertised as two separate events for two different activities which will take place simultaneously on the same day but by different groups of volunteers: please make sure you sign up using the appropriate event link.

By signing up to THIS event, you are signing up for: Hyndburn RiverBlitz: Riverfly Surveying. This is specifically for individuals who have completed the FBA's Riverfly Monitoring Initiative training, or have experience carrying out riverfly surveys in other settings (e.g. as part of your current/past job).

The other activity on the day will be the Hyndburn RiverBlitz: Water Quality and Habitat Surveys - Open to anyone, no matter your level of experience (or inexperience).

Everyone will have the opportunity to learn about both the riverfly and water quality surveys throughout the day.