Catchment News

Catchments.ie changes: chemistry data downloads

The latest update to catchments.ie has made chemistry data downloadable. These downloads are available for every subcatchment and water body we have these records for.

Making these data open means that the public can easily access the results of all the hard work done on their behalf by the EPA, our local authorities and other public bodies to monitor and assess Ireland’s waters.

While these downloads may not be for the more casual user, we hope that some people will find these chemistry downloads useful.

Where to find these chemistry data downloads

These chemistry downloads can be found on our Data pages. You’ll need to search for the subcatchment or water body you want this data for.

It is probably worth recapping that catchments.ie looks at water at several scales. We’ve divided Ireland and its waters up like this:

  • 46 Catchments
  • 583 Subcatchments
    • Each catchment is then divided into subcatchments.
    • You can find an automatically generated assessment for each of these on every subcatchment page
    • Chemistry Data can also now be downloaded for every subcatchment
  • 4,829 water bodies
    • Our rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal and ground waters are divided into segments called water bodies for monitoring purposes
    • Status, trends, charts and details of the monitoring programme are published where they exist for all water bodes
    • Chemistry Data can now be downloaded for every water body we have results for

If you do anything interesting with these downloads, feel free to email us and let us know: catchments@epa.ie

One of our 583 subcatchments – click the links in the red box to download a subcatchment assessment and chemistry data for that subcatchment.
You can see information on any of the 4,829 water bodies and download the chemistry data by clicking the link highlighted red above.

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.

LAWCO

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.

EPA

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.

DECLG

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.