Catchment News

Home News Hydrology bulletin on rainfall, river flows, lake levels, groundwater levels and spring outflows for April 2022

Hydrology bulletin on rainfall, river flows, lake levels, groundwater levels and spring outflows for April 2022

Following a dry April, river flow, lake levels and groundwater levels are lower than normal across the country. You can learn more in the April Hydrology Summary Bulletin which highlights the flows in rivers, rainfall, lake and turlough levels, groundwater levels and spring outflows of over 300 stations across Ireland.

Overview

Almost all rainfall amounts were below long-term averages for April across the country, with driest conditions in the East. River flows generally fell during the month of April with almost three-quarters (72%) of river monitoring stations observed monthly average flows “below normal” or “particularly low” river flows for this time of year.

Similarly, 73% of lake level monitoring stations were either “below normal” or “particularly low” for April.

For groundwater, levels one third (33%) of monitoring stations were within ‘normal’ levels for April long-term averages, with the remaining two-thirds below their long-term monthly averages.

Similarly, most monitored spring outflows were also ‘particularly low’ compared to average monthly flows for this time of year.

Learn more:

You can download the April 2022 Hydrology Summary Bulletin here: https://www.epa.ie/publications/monitoring–assessment/freshwater–marine/hydrology-bulletin/hydrology-bulletin/hydrology-bulletin-on-rainfall-river-flows-lake-levels-groundwater-levels-and-spring-outflows-for-april-2022.php

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.