A volunteer group monitoring the Beverley Brook on Barnes Common has been named SmartRivers' inaugural Group of the Year, recognising its outstanding contribution to protecting local waterways through citizen science.

SmartRivers is a national project which trains volunteers to monitor rivers and collect industry-standard data on water quality and river health.

Across the UK, volunteers have already logged more than 6,000 hours of training, helping to build a growing evidence base mapping the condition of rivers nationwide.

With participation expanding rapidly, SmartRivers has launched its first-ever Group of the Year Award, judged by an independent panel. The inaugural winner is Barnes Common, Beverley Brook.

The group's lead, Will Dartnell, said the project became central to their work while exploring habitat creation and restoration along the brook.

He explained: "We came across SmartRivers monitoring while exploring opportunities for habitat creation and restoration along the Beverley Brook.

"To ensure robust scientific evidence both before and after restoration, we identified SmartRivers as the ideal programme to support our monitoring needs."

This year marks three years since restoration work on the Beverley Brook was completed, with SmartRivers data now forming a key part of a long-term Before–After–Control–Impact (BACI) assessment of the site.

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"The group plans to publish its findings in a formal report and continue monitoring, with a further review planned at the five-year mark.

Will said the data collected has already helped highlight ongoing pressures on the brook.

"SmartRivers has provided invaluable evidence to highlight the issues affecting the brook. The programme's reports and annual summaries clearly show the scale of the problem," he said.

Fellow volunteer Rachel Walker has combined SmartRivers data with wider survey work to produce a report shared with local MPs, councillors and Richmond Council.

According to the group, this has helped raise political awareness of the challenges facing the Beverley Brook.

The findings are also shared through the local Catchment Partnership to encourage wider participation in monitoring and to strengthen evidence-based understanding of the river's health.

Will added: "It's a brilliant way for anyone involved to hugely increase their knowledge of a local river and improve their identification skills of aquatic invertebrates."

Growing public concern about polluted waterways and water shortages has driven a surge in participation in citizen science projects like SmartRivers.

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Across the UK, thousands of hours of sewage are discharged into rivers every day, while water companies and private businesses continue to abstract water, reducing river levels and increasing concentrations of pollutants. These pressures can leave waterways dangerous for wildlife and recreational users alike.

Some wild fish populations are now at serious risk, with the UK's Atlantic salmon reclassified as endangered by the IUCN Red List in 2023.

SmartRivers organisers say concerns for wildlife and local river health are among the main reasons volunteers get involved.

The data collected by groups such as Barnes Common, Beverley Brook is increasingly important as government monitoring resources are stretched, helping to identify environmental pressures and support action to protect rivers for the future.

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