Ireland’s woodlands and forests: a renewed focus under the second cycle of the River Basin Management Plan
Kevin Collins and Ken Bucke, Forestry Inspectors with the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, provide us with an […]
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Author
EPA Catchments Unit
The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.
Recent articles by Patrick
National Hydrometric Monitoring Programme 2018-2021
In 2018, the EPA published a National Hydrometric Monitoring Programme for 2018-2021 to coordinate the collection and analysis of information […]
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Significant Pressures: Invasive Species
Invasive species are a significant pressure impacting 42 or 1.8% of the 1,460 At Risk water bodies. This total of […]
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Measuring the impact of the 2018 summer drought on river flows and lake levels
The drought of summer 2018 was a unique opportunity to measure how much water was flowing when levels were approaching […]
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Wexford: Duncannon school children working to understand their local streams and getting their community involved
Fran Igoe tells us how the local community in Duncannon, County Wexford have been working together to understand their local […]
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Smart Farming – being water-wise on farm
Smart Farming, the resource efficiency programme run by IFA in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency has launched updated water […]
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The importance of the small stream network in Ireland
What are Small Streams? Small streams have been defined in many different ways but they are generally considered to lie […]
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Local Catchment Assessments – the next step in characterising our catchments
Marie Archbold describes how the EPA Catchments Unit has led the development of guidance on how assessment of the significant […]
Read More EPA National Water Event 2019 presentations
The EPA’s National Water Event for 2019 took place on May 29 and 30 in The Galway Bay Hotel. Over […]
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Call for volunteers to explore Irish coastal biodiversity
The National Biodiversity Data Centre has launched a new marine citizen science project called ‘Explore Your Shore! The project focuses […]
Read MoreWho is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.
This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.
Local Authority Waters Programme
The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.
Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.