Our Citizen Science team are investigating Chesterfield’s rivers to find out whether river restoration is really working.
For many years Slittingmill weir blocked the river channel, creating an unnatural pond-like and low energy river. In 2020 the Hidden Heritage Secret Streams project removed this weir to help re-naturalise the river Rother and improve conditions for the fishery in this section.
Our Citizen science team are investigating how the weir removal will impact the bottom of the food chain. By studying the communities of freshwater invertebrates in the river, before and after the weir removal, they can observe how river restoration might impact the diversity and assemblage of the freshwater invertebrate community.
Thank you to lead volunteer Paul Hancock for these resources