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Catchments.ie – water, from source to sea: highlighting some key information available

catchments.ie shares science and stories about Ireland’s water catchments, and people’s connections to water. This article highlights some key articles, data and information about water and the Water Framework Directive that are available on catchments.ie, and elsewhere.

Catchments.ie is collaboration between the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Huge credit and thanks is also due to all of the people, community groups and organisations who have worked to protect and restore their waters and were kind enough to share their stories on the site since catchments.ie launched in Summer 2016.

Catchments Newsletter

We have published 16 Catchments Newsletters – the latest one was published in Summer 2024.

The Catchments Newsletter gives an overview of water quality in Ireland and has stories about people, communities and organisations working to protect and restore their local waters.

If you see something that inspires you, the Newsletter has information on how you can get some help from the Local Authority Waters Programme and their Community Water Officers and funds to start a local project near to you.

See menu Catchments.ie/Stories/Catchments Newsletter

A very special thanks to everyone who has shared their stories since the Newsletter launched in November 2015.

Catchments.ie weekly email updates

You can sign up for email updates on the front page of catchments.ie

These usually are sent on Thursday afternoons highlighting any new stories that were added to catchments.ie week. We only email you if there is new stories to share, so they are not sent every week.

You can unsubscribe anytime using the Unsubscribe button at the bottom of the emails you receive.

Significant Pressures impacting water quality

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the latest update on the significant pressures impacting on water quality in our rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwaters in May 2024. The assessment showed that 34% of our waterbodies are at risk of not meeting their water quality objectives because of the impacts of human activities. The EPA also published a series of reports that summarises the evidence on each of the main significant pressures that impact on water quality.

Overview

See www.catchments.ie/significant-pressures/

See menu Catchments.ie/Significant Pressures

Catchment Reports

The EPA published an updated Cycle 3 Catchment Report for each of our 46 catchments in May 2024. These assessments provide an overview of the situation in the catchment and will help support the River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027 implementation process.

Each Cycle 3 Catchment Report includes the following:

A Water Quality Summary
Details on High Status Objective waterbodies
Water Quality Changes
Significant Issues
Significant Pressures
Areas for Action
An appendix with detailed waterbody scale information for all waterbodies in the catchment

These Catchment Reports are largely based on information available to the end of 2021. They also include links to older Catchment Assessments for each catchment.

How to access Catchment Reports

Go to the catchments.ie Data page: https://www.catchments.ie/data/
Type in the name of the catchment you are looking for in the Data search box, or click on the catchment you are interested in on the map of Ireland
Once the page for your catchment is opened, you will see a link to the PDF of the Catchment Assessment

See menu Catchments.ie/Assessments/Catchment Reports

Catchment Assessment Master Spreadsheet

The Catchment Assessment Master Spreadsheet includes information on the ecological status, impacts and pressures for all 4842 waterbodies in Ireland. It was published in May 2024.

It also has a link to each individual waterbody page on the catchments.ie data pages, which allows you to access detailed information and download WFD chemistry monitoring data, where available.

There is also a link to view each waterbody on the EPA Water Map.

How to access the Catchment Assessment Master Spreadsheet

See menu Catchments.ie/Data/Catchment Assessment Master Spreadsheet

EPA Water Map / EPA Targeting Agricultural Measures Mapping Tool

A detailed overview on how you can use these both these maps is here: www.catchments.ie/water-map

The Water Map page also has videos showing how to use the Water Map. It also includes two videos from the IFA highlighting how Pollution Impact Potential Maps for Nitrogen and Phosphorus can be useful for farmers.

EPA Water Map

The EPA Water Map has more layers available, with very detailed information on all waterbodies in Ireland:

Water, Land and Soil
Protected Areas
Monitoring and Flow
Status & Risk
Pressures and Activities
Taking Action

See https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/Water

EPA Targeting Agricultural Measures Mapping Tool

A farmer-friendly EPA Map on Targeting Agricultural Measures is now available, which has just the key information that will help farmers and other landholders understand their local water quality and where action needs to be taken.

The EPA launched a leaflet to highlight the Targeting Agricultural Measures Mapping Tool and how to use it at the National Ploughing Championship in 2024.

See https://gis.epa.ie/EPAMaps/agriculture

See menu Catchments.ie/Maps

Nitrogen Early Indicators

The purpose of this EPA report is to provide an early insight into nitrogen concentrations in major rivers in Ireland on a 6-monthly basis, in advance of the more comprehensive annual water quality assessments which are published on an annual basis.

It was first published in December 2024 and assessed January to June 2024.

See menu Catchments.ie/Assessments/Nitrogen Early Indicators

Monthly Hydrology Bulletins

The EPA Hydrology Bulletin provides a factual summary of river flows, lake levels, turlough and groundwater levels for the previous month. It includes a comparison to the long-term historic monthly values.

It also has:

Graphs showing river flow and water levels for a sample of the surface water and groundwater hydrometric stations across Ireland
Graphs showing turlough levels from several GSI sites
Maps which show how flows and levels at stations across the country compare to the average for the month

See menu Catchments.ie/Assessments/Monthly Hydrology Bulletins

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

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.

Who 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.