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Some €510,000 in grants have been issued through the Local Authority Waters Programme Community Water Development Fund. The latest call has seen 182 successful applications for funding in 2022. First introduced in 2018, the fund supports communities and groups to deliver projects that enhance the quality of local streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. The Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage provide the funding which is administered by LAWPRO.
Commenting on the announcement the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, said:
“I welcome the announcement of the Community Water Development Fund grants which will support local communities and groups to deliver projects that enhance the quality of local streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. I am pleased that my department funds this scheme, which is a great example of community engagement and public participation. The Community Water Development Fund will continue to be a key measure in the new revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan, which I plan to launch later this year alongside my colleague Minister Malcolm Noonan. The Plan aims to protect Ireland’s water quality, and to ensure we have a well-protected environment and vibrant communities for future generations.”
As in previous years, applications for funding exceeded the budget allocated which has increased from €380,000 to €500,000 in 2022. A total of 202 applications were received with 182 awarded.
Types of projects approved for funding include:
This year, an additional €10,000 was awarded as part of the Blue Dot Programme. The Blue Dot Award for 2022 was shared between 2 groups; IRD Duhallow in County Cork and CELT (Centre for Environmental Living & Training) in County Galway. Blue Dots are catchments which are mostly unpolluted and are our best quality waters.
Minister of State Malcolm Noonan added:
“I want to congratulate IRD Dulhallow and CELT as they share the 2022 Blue Dot Award and commend all the successful applicants who will receive funding. I welcome the collaborative approach led by my department, the Local Authority Waters Programme, working across all 31 local authorities with relevant State agencies, stakeholder and local communities with the shared goal of meeting the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive to have all natural waters at a good stand by 2027.”
A full list of awards per county can be found on the Local Authority Waters Programme website.
Full details of grants awarded are available online at www.lawaters.ie and www.catchments.ie.
LAWPRO was set up in 2016 as a shared service on behalf of the 31 Local Authorities in Ireland. The Programme operates nationally out of 13 different Local Authority centres. LAWPRO drives public engagement, participation and consultation with communities and stakeholders at local level via its Communities Team; delivers a programme of catchment assessment in priority areas for action via its Catchment Science Team and it coordinates these activities across the relevant public sector via 5 Regional Operational Committees.
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires member states to ‘encourage the active involvement of all interested parties in the implementation of this Directive’. On this basis, a key component of Irelands approach to water management is community engagement, which aims to create a broader understanding of the issues impacting on local water bodies and to identify local groups interested in improving the condition of the water environment. Achieving the aims of the WFD require active involvement of local authorities and other public bodies, water users and local communities.
A key function of LAWPRO is to promote public participation by providing information, organising and facilitating public consultations, meetings and events at local level, engaging communities to increase their involvement in water management and building the necessary relationships with relevant stakeholders at local level. Our team of Community Water Officers have built up a growing number of interested community groups via this annual Community Water Development Fund; supporting and hosting local events and have just completed an extensive public consultation on the draft River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027 for Ireland. They report to their Regional Operational Committees and are embedded in the water environment at community and operational level.
The Water Framework Directive has several objectives. One is to prevent deterioration of the status of all surface waters. This means that water bodies that are High Status should not decline to Good Status or worse. The EPA have identified the waters in Ireland that should have a high status objective, and these are more commonly known as Blue Dot waters or Blue Dots. Our Blue Dot Waters include rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters.
To access spatial data on high status objective waters, visit www.catchments.ie.
Blue Dot waters that are achieving their high status objective contain a diverse community of plants and animals that are very sensitive to pollution such as Stoneflies, Mayflies, Freshwater Pearl Mussels and the Slender Naiad.
Blue Dot waters that are not achieving their high status objective will generally have a poorer diversity of macroinvertebrates. In rivers where Fresh water Pearl Mussels are present, the recruitment of juvenile mussels will be significantly affected where pristine water is not maintained.