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Home News ‘And a river runs through it’ – Eco Eye looks at the Blackwater River Catchment

‘And a river runs through it’ – Eco Eye looks at the Blackwater River Catchment

On March 1st 2016 Eco Eye’s Anja Murray looked at the Blackwater River, examining it as a microcosm of many of Ireland’s water catchments. The episode explored some of the issues affecting rivers and communities throughout the country.

Anja followed the water from source to sea, looking at the impacts on the river and the people that rely on it.
This episode covered how water is not just essential for our health and quality of life, but how communities all over Ireland rely on the ecosystem services provided by our rivers and streams. The Duhallow community on the Blackwater River understand that the river itself is the lifeblood of their community.

These communities way of life relies on the health of the river and they have taken extraordinary steps to protect this river catchment. They know that the economy and livelihoods of this community rely on the water that runs through its heart.

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.