Question: if rivers are dirty what would you do to help

Karen answered on 6 Nov 2018:

Often if rivers are dirty it is because the of how the land around the river is used. This could mean the way we build roads, farm fields or plant forests, that release soil and chemicals into the river. So if I wanted to help make the river cleaner, I would need the help of all the local people and workers! Part of my research is that I want to find out how we can change the way we’re using the land so damaging things don’t wash into the river. Farmers can do things like keeping cows out of the river so that the animals don’t bring soil in with them. Scientists like to work as a team with farmers and foresters to help make the rivers cleaner! My job is to test soil that I collect from the river in a load of experiments, and try to see where it is coming from, this would help me give advice on how to clean up the river 🙂