RiverActionUK

River Action is a UK-based environmental campaigning body committed to rescuing the UK's rivers.

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

River Action is proudly independent.

We don’t take money from the Government or polluters, so we can hold power to account without fear or favour.
If charities are relied upon to clean up the mess from polluting industries, the system is failing.

Our priorities are clear:
🚫 Stop pollution at source
⚖️ Enforce the law
💥 Hold polluters accountable

Polluters must be investigated and prosecuted. Real deterrence depends on the real risk of criminal sanctions, including substantial fines and, in serious cases, custodial sentences. Anything less risks turning environmental damage into a cycle that is managed, not prevented.

#RescueOurRivers #EndSewagePollution

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

🚨 Our rivers are in crisis - and local councillors can help change that.

Following recent local elections, now is the perfect moment to make sure our elected representatives know that clean, healthy rivers matter to their communities.

💧 Email your local councillor today and demand urgent action to #rescueourrivers.

⏰ It takes just 2 minutes, and together we can send a clear message: we won't stay silent while our rivers are pushed to the brink.

Every voice counts. Every email matters.

📢 Take action now: https://t.co/u8l9UVKnMB

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

A huge congratulations to our Head of Campaigns, @AmySlack_1 , for being named in the ENDS Power List 2026! 🎉🎉

Described as a "force for positive change" and "an absolute joy and inspiration to work with", Amy has been recognised for driving systemic change through bold, creative campaigning: https://t.co/LDKKscndmK

This recognition is thoroughly deserved. We're incredibly proud to have Amy leading the charge for healthier rivers and stronger environmental standards. 💙🌊

#ENDSPowerList #RescueOurRivers

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

The River Wye has just made UK history.

For the first time, an entire river catchment has been formally recognised as a living ecosystem with rights - including the right to flow, thrive, regenerate, and be free from pollution.

It's a major victory for nature.

[Jim Murray MBE @TheJimMurray]

Season 3 The Last Salmon dropping Monday. Don’t miss it

https://t.co/9aYiDCs2jY

@MattHayesfish @AilsaMcL @HugoSAS @marinagibson25 @comicsonthefly @ActivistAnglers @DaleVince @SalmonScotland

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

⚠️As the nation swelters in record-breaking temperatures, England is sleepwalking into a water crisis.

Months of scarce rainfall, dried-out ground unable to absorb water, rivers running low, wetlands shrinking and aquifers already under pressure - all before summer has properly begun.

But here’s the truth: Britain is not short of rain.
We are short of political imagination, investment and leadership.

READ MORE: https://t.co/CWLoc6TouA

[Paul Powlesland @paulpowlesland]

On the hottest May day on record yesterday, I finally got to visit the most urban beavers in Britain at the Ealing Beaver Project & was frankly blown away by witnessing nature’s finest engineers close hand.

Billed as a ‘Beaver Safari’, I was surprised that the meeting point was outside a McDonalds next to a main road. This surprise continued when I discovered that not only were we allowed into the beaver enclosure but that the enclosure was also a public park with a cycle route running through. The beavers had got so used to humans that just the day before a beaver who had recently given birth was spotted dining on a delicious blackthorn branch just feet away from a bench where people were sitting in the park. We weren’t quite so lucky, but did see a beaver swim through a pipe under bike path & then haul itself out to cross their beaver dam to go downstream.

The beavers are not only a magical creature to witness though. They produce a cascade of environmental benefits. Their dams have raised the water level creating an amazing wetland home to reed warblers, water fowl, numerous bat species & wood peckers. Their dams help humans too by filtering urban pollution, alleviating droughts reducing flooding downstream. The wetlands they create also act as a giant air conditioning unit, cooling the city around it and reducing the urban heat island effect.

This project really shows that not only can humans & beavers live alongside each other, they can actively benefit each other as well. We now need to release natures engineers in rivers and wetlands across London so they can get to work building their dream homes, which make the city better for us humans too.

[Save Our Lands and River @savehamlands]

Bank holiday weekend at Teddington Beach ☀️

Hundreds enjoying the Thames – right beside the proposed sewage pump site.

This river is for people, wildlife and future generations. Sign the petition. 💧

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

🚨 An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has revealed the shocking scale of 'mega-dairy' farms across the UK.

Beef and dairy farming are responsible for 75% of the most serious agricultural pollution incidents - yet intensive livestock farms still face far weaker regulation than other polluting industries.

River Action is calling for environmental permitting to be extended to beef and dairy farms, but regulation alone is not enough. We also need policies that support farmers so they are not forced to intensify in the first place.

It’s time for proper oversight, accountability, and urgent action to protect our rivers from #agripollution.

https://t.co/yC2TFr1lqR

[Friends of the River Wye @FriendsUpperWye]

The River Wye has become the first river in the UK to claim cross-border rights from source to sea - a landmark declaration that rivers are not drains for pollution, but living ecosystems worthy of protection, respect, and a legal voice.

@SaveTheWye
@RiverActionUK

[Paul Powlesland @paulpowlesland]

An historic day, as the River Wye becomes the first river in the UK to have its rights recognised by local authorities across its catchment.

Hundreds of people gathered on the banks of the river to watch as representatives from Monmouthshire, Forest of Dean & Powys Councils, Herefordshire County Council, the Wye Valley National Landscape & Bannau Brycheiniog National Park signed the pledge recognising the rivers rights and then spoke about why they had done so what it would mean for the relationship of their organisation to the river. It went beyond legal formalities into something of a service of thanks & honour to the river, with poetry, a choir singing songs, & offerings to the river.

It has been a real honour to witness & be part of the surging movement towards river rights & guardianship on the Wye. Four years ago I met & advised Herefordshire Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, who wanted to put a voice of the river on the Wye Nutrient Management Board. A year ago I sat around a fire on the banks of the river with other Wye guardians & Earth lawyers as the idea of a charter was first mooted. To see it become a reality, & supported by 6 public bodies, in just a year is astonishing.

Now, of course, comes the hard work of making those rights a reality. But given the hundreds of active river guardians, & increasing public pressure to protect & restore the river, if it can be done on any river, it will be done on the Wye.

[Ben Goldsmith @BenGoldsmith]

Today is World Fish Migration Day, a global celebration of the extraordinary journeys migratory fish make. And no creature captures that wonder quite like the European eel, one of nature's most remarkable travellers.

Spending years in freshwater rivers, streams, and even ponds, it eventually embarks on an almost unimaginable journey of thousands of miles to the Sargasso Sea, near Bermuda, to breed.

Hear more about the European eel and why its numbers are dwindling fast in the latest episode of Rewilding the World where I’m joined by Joe Pecorelli from the Zoological Society of London.

@OfficialZSL

[Save The Wye Coalition @SaveTheWye]

Beautiful and informative interview on BBC Today with Robert Macfarlane and Dr Louise Bodnar, Voice of the River Wye, ahead of the Rights of the River Wye charter launch tomorrow in Hay on Wye. Listen from 13.40 minutes: https://t.co/gflpHmNNBR

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

Heading to your local river or coastline this bank holiday weekend? 🌊☀️

Before taking the plunge, make sure to check water quality at bathing sites. You can find pollution alerts and sewage spill information at https://t.co/RxEoZdW4AV and on the @sascampaigns' live sewage map.

While dry weather can reduce pollution risk, it’s still important to take care:

⚠️ Avoid swallowing water
⚠️ Don’t swim with open cuts or wounds
⚠️ Check for recent sewage discharges before you swim

Stay safe and enjoy the water responsibly this weekend. 💙

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

A message that is just as relevant today as it was when first aired six years ago.

Biodiversity loss isn’t happening somewhere else.
It’s happening right here, in Britain’s rivers.

Species that once thrived beneath the surface are disappearing, as pollution continues to suffocate life in our waterways.

But nature can recover.
We just need to give it the chance.

This International Day for Biological Diversity, let’s choose rivers full of life.

Head to the link in our bio to find out how you can take action for your local river.

🎥 @UnderwaterMedia

#DavidAttenborough #Biodiversity #RescueOurRivers

[Jim Murray MBE @TheJimMurray]

🚨 WHITEADDER/TWEED POLLUTION.
…for the second time this month.

“Our government in Scotland and Scottish Water are failing the natural world, failing it.
What legacy are we leaving our children? What inheritance are they gonna have?
Dead rivers, dead landscapes, a dead world”

[Friends of the River Wye @FriendsUpperWye]

Environment Agency inaction is a national scandal. On the Wye and many other rivers agricultural pollution is the most significant factor in worsening water quality. When will the EA enforce the law and protect our rivers?

@SaveTheWye @RiverActionUK @GeorgeMonbiot

[RiverActionUK @RiverActionUK]

Pangbourne Meadows on the River Thames has officially been designated as one of 13 new bathing water sites in the UK.

So what does that mean for river health, sewage pollution, and local communities?

BBC News reporter Alex Meakin spoke to River Action's CEO, James Wallace, to find out. 👇

#RescueOurRivers

[Save Our Lands and River @savehamlands]

This is what we’re fighting for 💙

London’s first official river bathing water site deserves protection – not more sewage infrastructure on its doorstep.

Please support our campaign to Stop the Thames Sewage Pump and sign the petition via the link below.