Explore your shore: volunteer to explore Irish coastal biodiversity
Dave Wall from the National Biodiversity Data Centre tells us how you can help map our marine biodiversity with the […]
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Articles by category
Citizen Science: how you can help monitor and understand your local environment
The EPA is working on citizen science in partnership with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, An Taisce and others. Citizens […]
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Uisce Aille – Burren Integrated Catchment Management Education Project
Public and particularly local participation in protecting our rivers, lakes and water resources from pollution has never been more important. […]
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What happens when we urbanise a catchment?
John Stack from Dublin City Council tells us about the changes that happen as a catchment urbanises, how an urban […]
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Book review: Karst of Ireland – Landscape, Hydrology, Methods
David Drew, the author of this book, has over 45 years of applied research and practical work on karst in […]
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Catchments Newsletter, Issue 11 – Autumn 2019
The latest issue of the Catchments Newsletter is now available to download. You can read the editorial from this issue […]
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The WISDOM Project: Learning from Group Water Schemes and connecting water, infrastructure, and people
Group Water Schemes (GWSs) are community managed water suppliers, primarily in rural Ireland. WIDSOM: Learning from Group Water Schemes, an […]
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Public engagement & environmental policy
Simon O’Rafferty is an EPA-funded researcher who focuses on the design of environmental policy interventions for sustainable behaviour change. In […]
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The impacts of climate change on Irish groundwater resources
Groundwater resources in Ireland As the largest store of available fresh water, groundwater is a priceless resource that needs to […]
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Promoting pesticide best practice in key catchments
A targeted marketing campaign commenced in lat August across 11 marts covering priority catchments where pesticide exceedances are of concern […]
Read MoreWho 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 4,829 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives and measures 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 that will be implemented after public consultation and sign off by the Minister.