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Have your say: Catchment management planning and catchment community forums – discussion document

The Local Authority Waters Programme is working on a template for proposed catchment management plans, including piloting this approach in five catchments. A document outlining the proposed approach has now been published, and you can comment on it until 30 November 2023.

Ireland’s draft River Basin Management Plan (dRBMP) proposes that, “Integrated Catchment Planning: local catchment management plans, which will be sub-plans to the national Plan, will be put in place in the next cycle for each of the 46 catchments. Building over time into fully integrated catchment management plans, these will eventually provide a continuing opportunity for greater public participation and engagement of key stakeholders and sectors at a local and regional level in the ongoing management of catchments and water bodies.”

The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) has been tasked with preparing a template for these Catchment Management Plans. This document is intended to form the basis for discussion with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), RBMP implementing bodies, An Fóram Uisce, Catchment Associations, River Trusts, and other community groups and stakeholders on the proposed approach for Catchment Community Fora and the development of a template for the Catchment Management Plans in five Pilot catchments.

This is the first opportunity for the public and interested parties to review and comment on the proposed approach. Comments on the discussion document are welcome up until 30 November 2023.

The comments will inform the scope and content of the Phase 1 Catchment Community Fora workshops planned to be held post publication of the River Basin Management for Ireland 2022 – 2027 in each of the five pilot catchments as well as the proposed template for the Catchment Management Plans. It is now expected that the Plan will be published in late 2023.

The timelines set out in the Discussion Document are subject to change and are dependent on the date of publication of the River Basin Management Plan.

The discussion document will be modified to take account of the comments and feedback received through this process and from the workshops.

The LA Waters Programme would like to thank you in advance for the time taken to consider the proposed approach and look forward to your comments.

Make your comment

Catchment Management Planning & Catchment Community Fora | Online Consultation Portal of the Waters and Communities Office

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.