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Hydrology Summary Bulletin – April 2026

Hydrology Summary Bulletin outlining the flows in rivers, rainfall, lake and turlough levels, groundwater levels and spring outflows of over 300 stations across Ireland for the month.

April 2026 was mild and quite sunny overall, wettest in the west and drier in the east. The first two
thirds of the month saw a series of unseasonably deep low-pressure systems traversing from
southwest to northeast, passing close to the northwest of Ireland. Storm Dave, (named by the UK
Met Office), passed over the northwest of Ireland on Saturday 4th and brought a spell of wet and
windy weather. Several more low-pressure systems passed close to the northwest of Ireland,
brought further spells of wet and windy weather over the western half of the country. The east of
the country, saw much less rainfall during this period owing to the influence of higher pressure to
the east.

Compared to March 2026, average river flows in April decreased at almost all of the 136 river
monitoring stations assessed, with the greatest decreases observed in the east. 47% of the monthly
average river flows remained above the normal long-term range, seen particularly in the west.
Although lake levels decreased at 90% of lake sites monitored, 91% remained above the long-term
normal range. Groundwater levels also decreased, but 70% remained above the long-term normal
range. Out of the five spring flows monitored, 3 were ‘particularly high’ and 2 were classified in the
‘above normal’ range.

Download and read the full Hydrology bulletin for April 2026 here.

About EPA Monthly Hydrology Bulletin: Monthly Hydrology Bulletin – Catchments.ie – Catchments.ie

Access previous EPA monthly Hydrology Bulletins here: Monitoring & Assessment: Freshwater & Marine Publications | Environmental Protection Agency

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.