Shrewsbury Councillor wades into Severn to test river quality
Shrewsbury Councillor Alex Wagner has waded into the River Severn at Castlefields in order to test river quality.
Riverfly sampling was rolled out about 10 years ago. Now there are over 2000 sampling sites, which are sadly mainly recording the appalling state of our streams.
Liberal Democrat Councillor, Alex Wagner said: “Our town is proudly nestled in the loop of the Severn, yet often our natural environment is not treated with the respect it deserves. I wanted to see the state of the Severn for myself, and so put on my waders to run some ‘kick sampling’ tests just down from the Weir at Castlefields.
“Cleaning up the Severn is going to be a huge task, requiring serious government and private investment. What has been made really clear to me is that improving our waterways and rivers is a must, and there is overwhelming public support to protect and nurture our natural environment.”
Dr Rob Park is a regular sampler on the Upper Severn and Reabrook. He assisted the team in doing river quality tests and sampling, adding: “As expected on the gravelly section on Sydney avenue the best represented invertebrates were Mayfly nymphs, and other members of the types of bugs sought were very poorly represented.
“Residents of the town will have noticed the sometimes considerable hatch of Mayflies in late May and June. Unfortunately they will have noticed they don’t have to clean insects off their car windscreens like years ago .
“Riverfly sampling is done in Shrewsbury and now riverside chemical testing has also been added. No good news on water quality in what is often an open sewer running through our Town.”
