​The type of pollution that a river may suffer from is determined first by the location of the river as well as the size of the surrounding population and the type of local industry. The Annan catchment is a rural area where most land use is for agriculture and forestry and generally this type of rural industry does not cause significant pollution issues all or even some of the time. However there are occasions when this is not the case and the River Annan District Salmon Fishery Board takes pollution incidents very seriously and works closely with SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) on cases where pollution may have occurred.

Through The Riverfly Partnership river fly sampling volunteers the RADSFB collects important data on the health of many of the Annan’s smaller tributaries which helps to highlight when and where there may have been an incident with some form of pollution.