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Hydrology Summary Bulletin – August 2024

The EPA has published the Hydrology Summary Bulletin for August 2024 outlining the flows in rivers, rainfall, lake levels and turlough levels, groundwater levels and spring outflows of over 300 stations across Ireland.

August 2024 saw Ireland positioned in between low pressure to the North and Northwest and high
pressure to the South and Southeast for most of the month. Numerous frontal rain bands crossed
the country from the west interspersed with showery periods. It was wettest in the Northwest and
driest in the East and South.

The monthly average river flows for August decreased when compared to July, with 41% of river
flows below the long-term normal range. In contrast, average water levels increased at most lake
sites (especially in the West and Northwest) compared to July with 48% of the lake and turlough
monitoring stations observed levels above the long-term normal range. Out of the six spring flows
monitored, two were in the ‘above normal’ range, two were in the ‘normal’ range and two were
‘below normal’. Groundwater levels were not assessed for August.

River Flows

The average river flows for August decreased at 59% of river monitoring stations compared to average flows observed in July. Analysis of the monthly average flows at 142 river monitoring sites, identified 13 (9%) as ‘particularly high’, 15 (11%) as ‘above normal’, 55 (39%) as ‘normal’, 43 (30%) as ‘below normal’ and 16 (11%) as ‘particularly low’. The river flows classified as ‘particularly high’ and ‘above normal’ were observed in the Northwest of the country.

Lake and Turlough Levels

Average water levels for August increased at 66% of lake sites compared to July. In August, monthly average levels at 36 lakes and 4 turloughs were classified as being ‘particularly high’ at 9 (23%), ‘above normal’ at 10 (25%), ‘normal’ at 14 (35%), ‘below normal’ at 3 (7%) and ‘particularly low’ at 4 (10%). The lake and turlough levels classified as ‘particularly high’ and ‘above normal’ were generally observed in the West and Northwest which are areas that experienced high rainfall totals in August.

Monthly average lake & turlough levels for August 2024 relative to historic monthly average levels expressed as percentile of the long- term values for this month. Numbered sites are represented in the hydrographs below. All data are provisional and may be subject to revision (Source: EPA, OPW and GSI).

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.

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