WFD Cycle 3 Catchment Reports
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Cycle 3 Catchment Assessment Reports for each of our 46 catchments. These assessments provide an overview of the situation in the catchment and will help support the River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027 implementation process.
About the Catchment Assessment Reports
Catchment Assessment Reports are produced by the EPA for each hydrometric catchment. They bring together monitoring data and pressure information to describe:
- The status of water bodies within each catchment
- Pressures affecting rivers, lakes, groundwater, transitional and coastal waters
- The risk of water bodies not meeting Water Framework Directive objectives
The Cycle 3 reports build on previous catchment reports prepared for Cycles 1 and 2 and reflect updated evidence and improved datasets. Each Cycle 3 Catchment Report includes the following:
- A Water Quality Summary
- Details on High Status Objective waterbodies
- Water Quality Changes
- Significant Issues
- Significant Pressures
- Areas for Action
- An appendix with detailed waterbody scale information for all waterbodies in the catchment
These Catchment Reports are largely based on information available to the end of 2021.
Accessing the Cycle 3 Catchment Assessments
The Cycle 3 Catchment Assessment Reports, including summary information and supporting datasets, are available from the EPA.
1. Go to the catchments.ie Data page: https://www.catchments.ie/data/
2. Type in the name of the catchment you are looking for in the Data search box, or click on the catchment you are interested in on the map of Ireland
3. Once the page for your catchment is opened, you will see a link to the PDF of the Catchment Assessment
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.