Find answers to our most frequently asked questions by volunteers below
If you have any further queries that aren't covered on this page or require any additional support, please email Lauren at: smartrivers@salmon-trout.org
SmartRivers samples need to be collected twice a year. We recommend the best time to collect your spring samples is May and your autumn samples is September.
To preserve your samples you will need Industrial Denatured Alcohol (IDA).
IDA can be purchased from a variety of places. We recommend purchasing from Astor & Windsor or Abbey Chemicals.
You will need to apply for a licence to purchase the alcohol. This is free and all done online. The licence can be applied for here. Under the 'hobbyist' option, you will be able to get 20 litres.
The alcohol will arrive as 100% concentration, it will need diluting to 70% before using with samples.
If your sample contains a lot of weed, this will break down and further dilute your alcohol. If you are concerned this has happened, carefully tip out the existing alcohol from the sample and top up with fresh.
If your hub is not undertaking the identification work, we will need to get your samples to our verified laboratory.
When your samples are ready, please let Lauren know via the SmartRivers email. You can drop them off at our Salisbury office, or we will arrange for collection via a courier service.
Preserved samples typically last six months, but can last longer. The longer the sample is left, the greater the chance that the animals may begin to deteriorate.
Please keep your samples for quality control purposes. Once your group has finished identifying all five samples and filled in your record sheets, let us know and one will be selected at random for submission to the laboratory for a full expert check.
This is not a 'wrist slapping' exercise, it is just to see how we can support you and help refine your skills.
Once quality control is completed we will give you notification, after this you may dispose of your samples.
Step away from the animal, move onto something else and come back to it with fresh eyes. It may simply be a case of tray blindness!
Keep referring back to your 'expected species' list for guidance.
If you are really stuck, just ask! The worst thing you can do is try to make something fit that doesn't. Incorrect identification can affect your biometric results considerably, so it is always better to check with us.
If you believe you have identified an animal that is not documented on your 'expected species' recording sheet, please make a note of what species you think it is in the 'additional species' column.
All 'additional species' recorded will need verification by an expert.
Please separate these animals into a different container. Try and get clear and detailed photographs of the animal. If our expert cannot identify the species from the photo alone, we will need you to send them the specimen.
If your identification is correct we will update the expected species list accordingly. You can then upload the list into the database - please submit these additional species under the 'other species' section.
If you think you have a species that is not included in the app, treat it the same way as you would an 'additional species'. This process is explained in the box above.
Yes, SmartRivers is completely flexible.
If you feel like identification is too much for you, you can move to the 'Sample & Send' pathway or do a combination of sending and identifying samples.
We will be checking in with hub leads to evaluate how things are going. During this conversation we will discuss plans for the future and adjust your SmartRivers regime accordingly.
Your river benchmark is a professionally collected and analysed one year (spring and autumn) sample.
Benchmarking allows us to provide your hub with an 'expected species' list which underpins your identification training and any independent identification work going forwards.
The benchmark is also a helpful baseline to refer back to once we process the data you submit to us. We can use it to see if there is any improvement or deterioration in water quality at your sites and begin to understand what the main pressures are.
You will typically receive your benchmark just before your first season of independent sampling. It will be uploaded into the SmartRivers database and you will be notified when it is available to view.
It's now your turn!
With support from your hub lead, who will have been sent a list, assemble all the necessary equipment.
Practise makes perfect, so get in the river and refine your skills ready for the upcoming sample season (this may be spring or autumn, depending on when you received your training). Never do this alone. Don't forget to use the sampling tracker sheet to help you identify and correctly sample all the habitats. Please refer to the training videos on our resources page to check your technique.
If you are on the sample & identify pathway, we will send you your expected species list. Remember, if you think you find an animal not listed on the sheet, get it checked through S&TC's entomology support (email: smartrivers@salmon-trout.org).
If you are on the 'Sample & Identify' pathway:
- Upload your species lists to the SmartRivers database, using the instructions here.
- The data will be processed through our biometric calculator and we will notify you when the pressure scores are available to view on the map.
- The hub lead will also receive an output sheet with impact scores against the following river stress types: Excess fine sediment, phosphorus enrichment, flow, organic enrichment and chemicals.
If you are on the 'Sample & Send' pathway:
- The lab will complete identification of your samples.
- We will upload your species into our online database and they will be processed through our biometric calculator.
- You will be notified when the pressure scores are available to view on the map.
- The hub lead will also receive an output sheet with impact scores against the following river stress types: Excess fine sediment, phosphorus enrichment, flow, organic enrichment and chemicals.
Biometrics are scores that indicate whether the invertebrate community is exhibiting a response to various river stress types.
Every invertebrate species is unique and has its own set of water quality preferences. So, by plugging in what invertebrate species are present and which are absent in your sample into a special calculator, we can generate biometrics.
SmartRivers will provide you with results for a variety of biometrics. For example, the Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates (PSI) index. This is a measure of stress on the community caused by excess fine sediment entering rivers.
Your data will become part of a national database and drive improvements to water quality both at a local and national level.
Restoration guidance & evaluation
If restoration schemes are being carried out in your river, SmartRivers monitoring will provide long-term evidence of how the work has impacted water quality. There is a large knowledge gap regarding post-monitoring of restoration projects. With SmartRivers we can define biologically what works best for different river types and refine restoration best practice accordingly.
Evidence to drive and focus local management
SmartRivers data is evidence that can drive meaningful and productive discussions with your local Environment Agency and other groups active on the river. As the current economic climate means environmental monitoring is largely under-resourced, SmartRivers hubs are needed more than ever to provide the detailed, longer term datasets most rivers are missing.
Shaping national policy
Behind the scenes, S&TC are using SmartRivers data to supplement our policy work, using local SmartRivers case studies as evidence to challenge and improve water policy nationally. Without your data, we would not be able to find these examples and build such strong cases.
There are many Riverfly monitoring initiatives around, so it can be tricky to understand why so many different schemes are necessary.
SmartRivers is part of Riverfly Partnership's 'Riverfly Plus' group. SmartRivers, Extended Riverfly and ARMI are all complimentary. You can take part in one, or all of them! They provide different types of information for slightly different purposes, but are all hugely important in our fight for healthy waters.
We have developed a document explaining the schemes here.
We rely on your support to protect wild fish and the places they live.
By donating or joining as a member you will be making a huge contribution to the fight to protect the UK's waters and ensure a sustainable future for wild fish.