Harmonised Monitoring Scheme

[1]Under the Harmonised Monitoring Scheme (an international monitoring strategy examining river-borne inputs to seas), SEPA monitors water quality in 56 rivers across Scotland. These rivers have been monitored since the mid-1970s and provide an invaluable record of environmental change in Scotland.

Each river is sampled as close to the tidal limit as possible and tested for a range of natural and synthetic substances. Water temperature and flow are also recorded and used to estimate fluxes of materials from the rivers to the sea.

The trends from the monitoring show:

• Climate change is having an effect on Scottish rivers, with water temperature and river flow increasing in some places.
• Improvements in water quality have been delivered through environmental regulation, cleaner technologies, improved sewage treatment and changes in agricultural practise.

Under this joint initiative between SEPA and The James Hutton Institute, a water quality atlas for Scottish rivers [2] has been produced.