Real-time data driving real action - Our Wensum water-quality dashboard is live!

April 23, 2026

As a charity that prides itself on robust data collection and analysis to drive landscape-scale improvements, we believe that environmental data should be open, easy to access and trustworthy for everyone. Good evidence helps us understand what our rivers need, take the right actions, and clearly show the difference they make.

We couldn’t achieve this without our community of volunteer citizen scientists, who are trained to collect weekly water samples along 71 km of the River Wensum Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and its tributaries. Using simple, standardised tools, they gather vital information on nutrients, water temperature, dissolved oxygen levels and more.

Their efforts provide valuable insight into the health of the River Wensum and build a dataset that helps identify effective restoration measures and tackle pollution. This data has now enabled us to build a public dashboard where anyone can access and explore real-time water quality information, understand what the results mean, and see how conditions change over time.

Whether you’re interested in getting involved, learning more about river systems, or following the progress of our citizen science programme, this interactive space helps bridge the gap between science and communities.

Together, we can better understand what goes on beneath the surface of one of our region’s most recognisable rivers - and work collectively to address the challenges it faces.

Visit the Wensum Data Dashboard and follow the yellow tabs on the left-hand side of the Dashboard to learn how to navigate the site, or follow our instruction manual here.

The Wensum Data Dashboard was created in partnership with the Wensum Catchment Partnership, which includes the Environment Agency, The Rivers Trust and Anglian Water.

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