What we do

At Upper Itchen Restoration CIC, we co-ordinate, fund and support citizen science work.

Through regular monitoring by volunteers and one-off projects collaborating with academics and other experts, we collect data on the state of our 3 streams.  Only with data is it possible to define, prioritise and implement actions to improve the health of the river.

One way to assess the health of a river is to monitor the invertebrates (riverfly) living in it.  Volunteers on the Upper Itchen monitor 10 sites regularly as part of the national Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (RMI).  Learn more about RMI Riverfly.

Wildlife (and people) live best in clean water.  Volunteers monitor Water Quality as part of the Angling Trust Water Quality Monitoring Network (WQMN) on all 10 sites. Learn more about WQMN.

Twice a year at selected sites, citizen scientists undertake a detailed analysis of invertebrates under Wildfish’s SmartRivers programme.  This gives a specific fingerprint of organic, chemical and sediment pollution in the streams. Learn more about SmartRivers.

We publish results from this regular monitoring on our monitoring pages.

You can find reports and updates on our projects on the projects page.

Current projects include an investigation into micro-particulates (plastics) in the Upper Itchen, and work to find household cleaning products which reduce impact on the river.