River Basin Management Plan 2022 - 2027
- Published on: 4 September 2024
- Last updated on: 6 September 2024
Overview
The Water Action Plan 2024: A River Basin Management Plan for Ireland sets out the measures that are necessary to protect and restore water quality in Ireland. The overall aim of the plan is to ensure that our natural waters are sustainably managed and that freshwater resources are protected so as to maintain and improve Ireland’s water environment.
The principal causes of the decline in Ireland’s water quality are the increasing loss into water of polluting phosphorus and nitrogen from farmland, inadequately treated waste water and physical impacts on water bodies, due to river barriers, and drainage of lands and rivers.
New targeted and effective measures are required to address declines in water quality and to protect those areas where progress has been made. In addition to improving overall water quality, sustainable water management is important to addressing and adapting to the impacts of climate change, with many of the required measures having co-benefits for climate mitigation and biodiversity.
Implementing these measures will require ongoing and adequate financing, resources and will be fully integrated across sectoral areas, reinforced by collaborative participation of stakeholders at national, regional and sectoral levels.
What’s in the Plan?
The overall approach of the third cycle River Basin Management Plan will be “the right measure, in the right place” supported and delivered by:
*An increased level of ambition: the third cycle plan will have a high level of ambition encompassing all waterbodies with clear strategies to protect those that are still at good status or above and to improve water bodies that are at less than good status.
*Role Clarity and Collaborative Implementation: there will be an increase in the level of coordination and collaborative work by all implementing bodies at national, regional and catchment levels, making optimal use of existing and enhanced governance structures and resources.
*Integrated Catchment Planning: catchment management work plans will be put in place for each of the 46 hydrometric catchments as sub-plans to the national Plan. The initial level of detail to be included in these plans will be decided based on templates produced by LAWPRO, in consultation with stakeholders, and will build over time into fully integrated plans to manage water quality in our catchments. These plans will also provide a basis against which to assess implementation of measures through regular reporting. In addition Sectoral Action Work Plans will be developed for the key sectors, the objective of which will be to ensure that the sector will no longer be a significant pressure on water status. The Sectoral Action Work Plans will contribute to the development and implementation of objectives and actions at a catchment scale.
*Public Participation: there will be an increased level of public participation through the establishment of local catchment fora.
*Multiple benefits: many of the measures needed to protect and improve water quality can also deliver benefits for nature, air quality and climate change. The Water Framework Directive with its catchment-based planning approach is perfectly positioned to capture these multiple benefits to contribute to climate change mitigation and to enhancing biodiversity.
Some of the measures that will help deliver the objectives of the Plan include:
*Agricultural: a new Nitrates Action Programme put into effect through the Good Agricultural Practice Regulations which will retain and strengthen the existing controls and implement tighter controls on Nitrogen and Phosphorous from agriculture. A new large-scale Water European Innovation Partnership EIP project called “Farming for Water”, the objective of which is to focus on reducing losses of phosphorus, nitrogen, sediment and, where relevant, pesticides to water from agricultural lands by promoting the adoption of innovative best practice in nutrient management, the application of Nature based Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM) and other suitable measures.
*Urban Waste Water and Urban Run Off: continued investment in waste water infrastructure with Uisce Éireann investing over €2.3bn in standalone projects at 108 waste water treatment plants, 77 collection networks and 92 related national programmes by 2024. The establishment of a pilot project to investigate solutions to urban runoff using Nature-based Solutions.
*Hydromorphology: the establishment of a national Hydromorphology Programme and Expert Group to support its development and implementation to mitigate the negative impact of physical barriers in or near waterbodies.
Documents
Water Action Plan Executive Summary 2024
Appendices
Water Action Plan Appendix 1 2024
Water Action Plan Appendix 6 2024
Water Action Plan Appendix 7 2024
Water Action Plan Appendix 8 2024
Water Action Plan Appendix 9 2024
Water Action Plan Appendix 10 SEA Statement
Where can I get more information?
For more information about water quality in your local area or water quality activities throughout the country you can visit the Environmental Protection Agency's Catchments website.
The website contains guidance, maps, data, resources, case studies and water-related news from around Ireland. There is also a Catchments Newsletter available, and you can sign up for weekly email updates that highlight WFD-related news, publications, and events around the country.
How can I get involved?
Local Authority Waters Programme’s (LAWPRO) Catchments and Communities teams work with local authorities, state agencies, public bodies and private sector stakeholders and local communities in coordinating efforts to achieve good or high quality in our waterbodies. Increased public participation will be a central focus of the River Basin Management Plan 2022 - 2027.
More information and how you can get involved in your local community is available at the LAWPRO website.