The Urban River Survey is a scientific assessment method and suite of tools that supports the work of river managers in urban environments. The survey, which is a development of the Environment Agency’s River Habitat Survey, records information on the physical structure of 500m stretches of urban rivers and their margins.

Indices calculated from survey data are used to assess the relative physical quality of individual surveyed stretches within the range achievable in an urban environment. Stretches are assigned a ‘Stretch Habitat Quality’ score (ranging from very good to very poor), which is derived from component ‘Materials’, ‘Physical’ and ‘Vegetation’ classifications.

The Urban River Survey does not evaluate chemical or biological quality. It does assess the quality of the physical structure of riparian and aquatic vegetation.