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Rivers Trust Conference 2025: Videos Now Available Online

The Rivers Trust’s Annual Conference was held on 9 April, 2025 and examined the vast impacts of blue-green algal blooms on waterbodies, uncovered the root causes of how and why they occur, and highlighted the integral roles played by our rivers and catchments.

Recordings from the Rivers Trust Conference 2025, titled “A Bloomin’ Disaster: The Causes and Costs of Blue-Green Algae,” are now available online. This year’s conference delved into the significant impacts of blue-green algal blooms on our waterbodies, exploring their root causes and the critical roles our rivers and catchments play. The sessions covered a range of topics, from the ecological and economic effects of algal blooms to innovative solutions for mitigating their impact.

Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are increasingly prevalent, with notable occurrences in Lough Neagh, the UK’s largest lake. These microscopic organisms naturally occur in freshwater bodies, but under favorable conditions, they proliferate and form blooms that resemble algae. This phenomenon, driven by pollution from catchments and rivers, is becoming more frequent and severe.

The impacts of blue-green algal blooms extend beyond being an eyesore; they affect tourism, recreation, fisheries, agriculture, and property values, all crucial for sustainable development. These blooms suffocate water bodies by reducing oxygen and sunlight and release harmful toxins, posing health risks to wildlife and humans.

Environmental and climatic factors like warmer temperatures, excess nutrients, and low rainfall are known triggers for algal blooms. However, ongoing research reveals that systemic failures in land and sewage management, compounded by climate change, are significant contributors. Understanding these causes is essential for restoring balance in our catchments and improving overall environmental health.

Catchment Solutions to a Catchment Problem (Source: The Rivers Trust)

Visit The Rivers Trust YouTube page to watch these informative sessions and gain deeper insights into the causes and impacts of blue-green algae. The conference videos cover the following sessions:

Learn more

The Rivers Trust Conference 2025: A Bloomin’ Disaster — The causes and costs of blue-green algae

EPA News: It’s all about the algae – It’s all about the algae – Catchments.ie – Catchments.ie

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.