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Public consultation on the EPA’s proposed assessment methodology and hydrological limits for identifying significant water abstractions

An abstraction is the removal or diversion of water from a river, lake, stream, spring, groundwater well, or borehole, for any purpose. The EPA is the competent authority for implementing a licensing regime for water abstractions. The purpose of this consultation is to seek your views on the proposed assessment methodology and hydrological limits that will be implemented by the EPA to assess the impact of abstractions on waterbodies and identify significant abstractions in Ireland.

On 28 August 2024, the Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Act 2022 and associated Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Regulations (S.I. No. 419/2024, S.I. No. 418/2024 – (Licensing Fees)) came into operation with the commencement order S.I. No. 417/2024.

Any abstraction equal to or greater than 2,000 m³/day will require an abstraction licence. Any abstraction between 25 m³/day and <2,000 m³/day will be assessed by the EPA to determine if it is a significant abstraction. If an abstraction is deemed to be significant, an abstraction licence will be required.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek your views on the assessment methodology and hydrological limits that will be implemented by the EPA to assess whether an abstraction is considered to be a significant abstraction.

The EPA will review the outcomes of this consultation process and publish the methodology on the EPA website. The published methodology will be reviewed as required and at a minimum, every six years.

How to make a submission on this consultation

The consultation period is now open and will close on 28 March 2025.

The Feedback can be guided by the questions below. Please forward any comments you may have to edenabstractionsupport@epa.ie

Do you have any comments on the proposed approach and hydrological limits for assessing river waterbodies (Section 3.1)?
Do you have any comments on the proposed approach and hydrological limits for assessing lake waterbodies (Section 3.2)?
Do you have any comments on the proposed approach and hydrological limits for assessing groundwater bodies, including the impact on surface waterbodies and the supporting conditions of groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystems (Section 3.3)?
What are your views on the proposed significance assessment for associated impoundments (Section 3.4)?
What are your views on abstractions not being identified as a significant abstraction where the abstraction volume is less than 1% of the volume of water which can sustainably be abstracted (Section 3)?

Learn more:

More information available at: https://www.epa.ie/our-services/licensing/freshwater–marine/water-abstraction/

The Significant Abstraction Guidance document is published here: https://www.epa.ie/publications/corporate/consultations/-consultations/significant-abstraction-guidance-2025.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.