Community Engagement
WATER Welcomes Volunteers
Without their help of volunteers we could not carry out many of our positive action activities. These include: our river cleans, culls of non-native invasive species, such as Himalayan Balsam, projects such as fencing to restrict livestock access to watercourses, tree and hedgerow planting to improve habitat and biodiversity and creating leaky dams to slow water flow or divert run off away from the river.
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Riverbank Cleans
Riverbank cleans usually take place in early spring and late autumn. Litter and detritus from upstream often gets snagged in the riverbanks as it makes its way, inevitably, to the estuary beaches and the sea. Similarly, litter and detritus from the sea is washed into the estuary on the incoming tide and can get trapped there.
Read about what happens to plastics when they break down in the environment here.
We welcome involvement from families at these events as it helps to make young people aware of the consequences of carelessly discarded litter, such as plastic drinks bottles. However, children must be supervised at all times by a responsible adult and must not enter the water.
Culls of Himalayan Balsam and Other Non-native Invasive Species
These typically take place in early summer as this non-native, and very invasive, species must be removed before the seed heads set. Once they burst, they distribute large quantities of seed to the surrounding area and often into water courses that carry them down river whey they colonise another part of the river bank. Fortunately, these plants are shallow rooted, so not too difficult to pull up.
This is an adult-only activity due to inevitably working in close proximity to the river and the occasional need to use cutting tools or powered equipment on large areas.
Collaboration with Local Environmental Groups
As part of our commitment to the principle of collaboration, we support and encourage the activities of the many local community environmental groups in towns and villages across the catchment such as those in Ivybridge, Ermington, Ugborough, Holbeton and Modbury.
Wildlife does not recognise community boundaries and we can take that lesson from nature by encouraging a network of river carers; linking up across the catchment so that each group improves the health of their stretch of river and passes that healthier river onto the next community.
WATER actively promotes the work of individual community groups to our wider supporter network, enabling those groups to get messages about their river-based events and volunteer recruitment to WATER’s catchment-wide audience.
How you can help
There are many ways you can help us protect and restore water quality and habitat in the beautiful river Erme. To find out how, just click SUPPORT US