This Creationtide we are being encouraged to think about God’s life-giving water, and to join God’s work of renewal and healing of our natural world.
For Alistair McNaught from All Saints in Fawley, that calling has become a practical commitment to protect the rivers and waterways around his local community.
Since April, Alistair has been leading a group of volunteers from the Waterside area, training them to test the quality of local streams and working with them to raise awareness of pollution and to campaign for cleaner water.
The project was established by the Waterside Climate Action Network (WaterCAN), as part of the wider New Forest Water Watch. For Alistair, the project is rooted in his Christian faith.
He said, “Some of my most profound times of communion have been sitting in the presence of flowing water. I have a deep conviction that Christians should be at the forefront of environmental advocacy and action, that we are called to be prophetic people. If ‘the Earth is the Lord’s’ we have no right to treat it disrespectfully.
“Clean water is a right for our children and our wildlife. The work we do gives us the evidence to speak truth to power. It has allowed me to use a wide range of prior skills and experiences to benefit the community, and in turn to be built up and blessed by their passion and support.”
The volunteers currently monitor six streams around Totton, Hythe and Dibden, including waterways running through housing estates, and recreational areas where people walk, paddle and exercise their dogs.
They test for E. coli, nitrates, phosphates, temperature and ammonia, recording the results on a database. Where a result raises concerns, further tests and samples are taken to try to identify the source of the problem. The group can then alert the Environment Agency and put up posters to raise awareness locally of potential pollution.
On one occasion, testing found E. coli levels thirty five times higher than the safe bathing limit, but the volunteers also celebrate clean water too.
Volunteer Mike Smith, said, “I was worried about climate change and the impact on the wider environment, so I think it’s important we check it out. Children play in the stream here, and other streams around the Forest, that we’ve been testing, so I think it’s important that we are more aware of what’s going on in the environment.”
Fellow volunteer Katie Butt added, “I love to test the water and see what is going on in my local area. It feels like I’m doing something useful for everybody – all the kids who want to come and paddle in here when it’s hot, the people who walk here and think it’s okay for their dog to go in. Sometimes, we’re finding out that it’s probably not. Hopefully we’ll be making improvements, making some difference and making it better.”
Alistair has been supported by the wider New Forest Water Watch team and he values the sense of community and shared purpose among a diversity of people he might not otherwise have met.
He said, “It’s part of my desire to protect nature and social justice, to make sure water companies fulfil their legal obligations and to hold them to account,” he said. “Stewardship is such an important part of it. I want to make sure that whatever part I play, I can give my kids something that is better than it would have been if I hadn’t been here. It’s about gratitude and about not taking these things for granted.”
The project also reflects the way Alistair believes churches can engage with their communities around care for creation. Although this is a community led project, it’s also important to his parish church as it continues to work towards its Silver Eco Church award.
Alistair concluded, “I think it’s important for churches to be informed, to be inspired or indignant, or both. We need to be able to look outwards and say nature is not a tag-on. Nature is the core resource God has given us for our wellbeing, and so we need to look after it well. We need to be informed and informing people that this matters. I want to feel like I’m doing something tangible to make a difference.”
