Body of Water: a water quality workshop day

Fish, amphibian, and reptile, warm-blooded bird and mammal-each of us carries in our veins a salty stream in which the elements sodium, potassium, and calcium are combined in almost the same proportions as in sea water.
― Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us, 1951

Body Of Water is an exploration of water quality and water monitoring on the Exe estuary and coast. In Summer we held a creative lab where 19 people from the local community, researchers and organisations gathered to share different perspectives and generate ideas for working together in the future. We identified problems and started to explore ways to address them collaboratively.

Why is water quality and water monitoring important?

Over recent years statutory monitoring by the Environment Agency of water bodies has reduced substantially due to government funding cuts and only 14% of UK rivers meet Good Ecological Status under the Water Framework Directive in 2019. Increasingly, across the UK local communities are becoming aware of the impacts of pollution on wildlife and safety for recreation. Phone Apps such as Surfers Against Sewage ‘Safer Seas’ alerts communities to high sewage levels in local waters and storm overflow incidents. This is leaving many people wanting to know more such as – why does this keep happening? how dangerous is the water when there is a sewage alert? Why are water companies persistently releasing sewage and untreated water into seas, estuaries and rivers? What is the impact of sewage on marine and estuary wildlife? We also know that modern farming methods can often increase run off of soils leading to greater sediment load in rivers and that chemicals and slurry washing off the land can cause harm to aquatic systems. We also know that local aquaculture is impacted severely by changes in water quality. Shellfish are particularly sensitive to pollution and changes in water quality can lead to an unsellable product. Without good data is is difficult to make a clear assessment of the particular conditions of each water body and so over the past few years people have started to take monitoring into their own hands and schemes such as West Country Rivers Trust Citizen Science have blossomed and flourished. Many hundreds of people across the UK are now getting to know their rivers and acting on the information they are finding. Films such as Riverside which focuses on the River Wye focus attention on this nationwide problem. Tidelines also identified that monitoring using creative as well as scientific methods (such as the Sonic Kayak) give many different ways for people to build a more in depth relationship with and knowledge of the estuary. The Exe Estuary Box and conversations with people around the estuary at events and presentations have shown us that water quality and water pollution are priorities for estuary residents.

The day started by giving thanks for the place we live, the opportunity to be together in person and by identifying a non-human (more than human) being or entity that is part of the Exe for each of us to represent throughout the day. This was to remind us of the other parts of the ecosystem and the other beings that make the estuary their permanent or temporary home.
(See Circular pic above)

Throughout the day Shelley Castle was drawing and visually representing ideas that came up and conversations that were being had. We heard short presentations from members of the group including Ross Brown, SWEEP project, University of Exeter; Natalie Holt RSPB; Anne-Marie Culhane Tidelines; Rob Ellis – aquaculture researcher University of Exeter and local resident; Mary Culhane, Jenny Sutton, Kerin Pillans – all local residents; Simon Browning West Country Rivers Trust; David Smith South West Water and Martin Syvrey Aquaculture Specialist. You can find Kathy’s video of the presentations here: https://youtu.be/tV73fzL-Za4

We then had a lively discussion the challenge that Tidelines had identified and the vision for what we want to do.

The challenge:

The water quality and health of the water in the Exe Estuary and coast needs to improve and the Estuary is being impacted by the climate and ecological crisis. The regulatory frameworks to protect the estuary from pollution are not fit for purpose. People do not feel well enough informed about why the estuary is important and the risks and changes taking place and what they can do about them. People would like to support the Estuary and coast to thrive.

The vision or what we hope for:

Working with people of all ages around the Exe estuary to monitor the health of the changing estuary and coast and gathering reliable accessible information and knowledge. This is in order to influence policy and personal behaviour, develop a shared sense of responsibility, and create a cleaner estuary and coast that supports a rich and diverse natural habitat that is safe for swimming and recreation and brings a greater awareness of the complexity of the system and the climate and ecological emergency.

Over lunch people went on a sound walk with Kathy Hinde listening to sounds in the estuary using an underwater hydrophone. We discussed what we can learn about a system and its health through using our listening sense.(later that day I took Kathy up to Lympstone to record the sound of pacific oysters)

We started to share different areas of interest or ideas inspired by this vision and the challenge.

How we might care for the more-than-human estuary (all the other beings that live in on and around our estuary)

– Community-led ecosystem restoration ie Shellfish mussels and oysters and seagrass monitoring and cultivation of shellfish for bioremediation including monitoring the shellfish for contamination ie as pollution indicators and for learning and distribution of knowledge in the community.
– Upstream land management and reducing run-off from land and farms
– Long term quiet zones in the estuary
– Putting real value on ‘ecosystem services’ and who is providing them for example native and non-native shellfish. Being very mindful of price tags and economic value placed on a complex web of relationships.
– Develop a library of knowledge and practice for restoration projects so we can build on existing resources.
– Mapping how water quality varies across the Estuary – spatially and temporally.

Key elements here were:
– Citizen science and monitoring and sharing of information to raise awareness;
– Case studies on restoration from existing projects here and elsewhere;
– pilot community led and community involved aquaculture schemes;
– mapping and quantify baseline re species and water quality – bring together existing data.