On BBC1 on Sunday 20th April 2025 at 7pm, there's a programme called Our Changing Planet: Restoring Our Rivers in what's the fourth year of a seven year project.

Liz Bonnin and Ade Adepitan look into two efforts to restore rivers.

In California, Liz Bonnin follows the largest dam removal ever. It's aiming to reverse the damage done to the Klamath River, which is huge. A series of dams were created there in the early 1900s to provide hydroelectric power and unfortunately, the impact on the ecosystems was devastating. It affected both indigenous peoples and wildlife in the area. It's taken years of campaigning but the dams are being removed. And the huge wastelands behind the dams need to be restored to provide vibrant habitat. If you don't have access to the BBC, you could take a look at this video on You Tube here from American Rivers

Ade Adepitan is in Paris. There was a huge detox of the Seine there, after Paris was awarded the Olympics for 2024. Raw sewage from Paris flowed into the Seine for years, as Ade Adepitan discovers, and that killed off all the aquatic life. A huge engineering project got underway to stop this disgusting flow, and the hope is that the city will be able to make use of its waste. So what's happened? Watch the programme to find out! There's also a video from TIME on their You Tube channel if you can't get to the BBC.

I am looking forward to seeing the programme. You can find more information about it here.

And if you want to do your bit for rivers in the UK, you could look at your local Wildlife Trust to see what they are doing, the Canal and River Trust and also the Rivers Trust.

Don't forget that the Big Give Green Match Fund kicks off at mid-day on Tuesday 22 April 2025 until mid-day 29th April 2025 - donations are matched during this week, and there are a number of charities with appeals for rivers, so you could donate and have your donation doubled! Find out more here.

You can also visit American Rivers here They have plenty of actions you can take.

By the way, the image at the top of this blog was taken by Mark McGregor; it's a great photo, Mark so thank you!

Thank you Michael for your post below and I should have included this section in my original blog.
There are a number of charities working to try to run campaigns and put pressure on for cleaner waters; you could look at these..

Surfers against Sewage, a marine conservation and campaigning charity - #EndSewagePollution

The Rivers Trust can help you find out where sewage is discharged into rivers - they have a Sewage Map showing where the sewerage network discharges and overflows into rivers. Their Take Action pages show you what you can do to act for our rivers, and they've also got information on how you can report sewage pollution in rivers

River Action UK has a River Action Kit with help on setting up a group, testing your river, campaigning, getting media interest, raising funds and knowing your legal rights.

The Rivers Trust has a State of our Rivers report and it's not good news. There's a lot to do, as we all know. The more we can spread the word and put pressure on decision makers and raise awareness of how important rivers are and their state, and what needs to be done to put them right, the better.