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Home News The Community Water Fund helps Portrun, County Roscommon tell the story of the Portrunny water catchment

The Community Water Fund helps Portrun, County Roscommon tell the story of the Portrunny water catchment

The Community Water Development Fund supports communities developing water related projects and initiatives. Eoghan Brennan from Portrun Development Association tells us what his community has done with their funding.

During 2018, Portrun Development Association received funding under the Community Water Development Fund for the installation of an interpretive sign for the Hind River and the production of a short film on Portrunny Water Catchment.

The Hind River has been identified as a Priority Area for Action to improve water quality on Lough Ree. The interpretive sign was installed at the Hind River road bridge in Clooncagh which is close to Portrunny. Visitors to the area on the Portrunny Heritage Trail now have the benefit of this sign, along with cyclists on the Green Heartlands Cycle and future visitors as part of Irelands Hidden Heartlands.

The new sign with the Hind River behind it.

The sign has information about the Hind River, its drainage and navigation, and the butterflies and biodiversity it helps provide a habitat for.

Portrun Development Association would like to acknowledge the help and support of Community Water Officer Catherine Seale, NPWS Ranger Laura Gallagher and John Mockler from Roscommon County Council for making these projects possible.

Eoghan Brennan, Portrun Development Association

Learn More:

www.portrun.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.