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National Workshop Highlights Priorities for Water Conservation

The Water Forum outlines key actions to support a future National Water Conservation Strategy

A recent Water Conservation Workshop convened by The Water Forum has highlighted the need for a stronger culture of water conservation in Ireland and identified key priorities to inform the development of a future National Water Conservation Strategy.

The workshop brought together representatives from Government, Uisce Éireann, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, regulators, local authorities, academia, businesses and members of The Water Forum to explore how Ireland can improve water conservation and build long-term water resilience.

A central theme emerging from the discussions was the need to increase public awareness of the value of water. Participants noted that while water is an essential resource, the infrastructure, treatment and investment required to deliver safe drinking water are often overlooked.

Four priority areas were identified during the workshop:

Education, awareness and understanding the value of water.
Leakage reduction, metering and improved water-use data.
Water-efficient buildings and standards.
Water stewardship and non-domestic water use.

The workshop also considered practical actions that could be implemented in the short, medium and long term, as well as the roles of Government, utilities, regulators, businesses, communities and other stakeholders in supporting water conservation efforts.

The full article and Water Conservation Workshop Summary Report are available on The Water Forum website:

Click here to read more

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.