We now have a small team of trained volunteers who are carrying out a regular riverfly monitoring survey on the Biel Water.
Riverfly monitoring is a UK wide citizen science project which, in Scotland, is coordinated and supported by Buglife.
Riverflies are invertebrates that spend most of their life cycle in a river, stream, pond or lake. The three key groups are stoneflies, caddisflies and mayflies. Along with other freshwater invertebrates, they are at the heart of the freshwater ecosystem and are a vital link in the aquatic food chain. Their common characteristics of limited mobility, relatively long life cycle, presence throughout the year, and specific tolerances to changes in environmental conditions make them good indicators of water quality.
If you are interested to get involved then please get in touch: riverfly@sustainingdunbar.org
Riverfly monitoring takes place monthly between April and October. We are hoping to expand the number of trained volunteers for 2026 so as to be able to set up new monitoring points, both on the Biel Water and on other river catchments across East Lammermuir as part of our wider River Catchment Restoration Project.