Catchment News

Home News Teagasc water quality week: 22-26 March

Teagasc water quality week: 22-26 March

Beginning on World Water Day, the Teagasc Water Quality Week runs throughout the week of Monday 22 March to Friday 26 March. Water quality week is being organised in collaboration with the dairy processing co-ops and the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). During the week Teagasc and its partners will provide water quality focused information and advice to farmers to help minimise losses of nutrients, sediment and pesticides to water from their farming practices.

Water Quality Week will cover a broad range of topics and will be available to farmers and the public, primarily through short videos posted on www.teagasc.ie, social media channels and digital media platforms, and also print articles in local print media. Each day will be dedicated to a particular theme and will look to explain a range of water quality problems and provide practical advice and solutions to farmers.
Noel Meehan, Programme Manager with the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP)

Water Quality Week Events

Date	Theme
Monday 22 March	Water Quality and Catchment Management
Tuesday 23 March	Utilising Nitrogen Inputs Efficiently
Wednesday 24 March	Breaking the pathway’ of Phosphorus and Sediment loss
Thursday 25 March	Protecting Water from Pesticide losses
Friday 26 March	Managing your Farmyard and Signpost Webinar

LAWPRO will get the ball rolling on World Water Day, Monday 22 March. They will explore the importance of water quality to farmers and explain how water quality is measured and where the public can access information on the streams and rivers of Ireland.

On Tuesday 23 March the Teagasc and Co-op ASSAP advisors will provide information on nitrogen with the help of researchers from Teagasc Johnstown Castle. Information will be provided on how nitrate interacts with soil and what farmers can do to minimise diffuse nitrate losses form their farms.

This will be followed on Wednesday 24 March with a similar discussion on diffuse phosphorus (P) and sediment losses to waters and how farmers can ‘break the pathway’ of P and sediment losses by putting the right measure in the right locations on farms.

The focus on Thursday 25 March will be on pesticide use on farms and how these can impact streams and rivers and also drinking water supplies. There will also be a focus on the roles that agro forestry and wetlands can play in helping to protect and improve water quality.

On Friday 26 March the week will be closed out by explaining the importance of good farmyard management practices as these play a vital role in minimising point source losses of nutrients. There will also be an opportunity to tune into the weekly Teagasc Signpost Webinar for additional information and discussions on the topics covered by water quality week.

Learn more:

Further information on water quality week is available on www.teagasc.ie/waterqualityweek, from your local co-op sustainability advisor and www.watersandcommunities.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.