Surveys of the River Esk will be under the microscope at the next meeting of the Esk Valley Trust next Thursday (March 30).

Musselburgh residents will have the chance to hear about the Riverfly on the Esk project, which was set up in 2019 by Rebecca Lewis, Laura Goble and Sally York.

They will outline the project on Zoom at 7.30pm in their talk ‘How Community Science Can Expand Our Understanding of River Health’.

The trust said via its website: “Riverfly on the Esk has grown significantly and now monitors water quality at 15 locations along the North and South Esk rivers.

“The project goes from strength to strength and, with a number of years of baseline data, is becoming increasingly useful.

“It differs from other monitoring schemes by using community engagement to collect data – an excellent example of citizen science in action.

“Volunteers carry out monthly surveys of aquatic invertebrates; from this they can determine how clean the water is and highlight any pollution events to SEPA.

“Pollution along the Esks remains a big concern for local communities. This project empowers them to get involved and make a difference.”

The speakers will explain how the project on the Esk rivers was set up and what it is planning for the future.

To register for the free talk, go to esk valleytrust.org/news-events and click on the link for the talk.