Catchments

Temporal land use patterns and livestock numbers (sheep) across several river catchments

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Temporal land use patterns and livestock numbers across several river catchments. Within DAFM the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) division generated a list of herds who had land in each river catchment area for a select number of river catchments from 2014-2020. The departments Animal Identification & Movement (AIM) division provided the bovine and ovine figures for each herd in each year.

It should be noted that the AIM data was generated for herds who had land in each river catchment area. It is likely that some herds also had land outside the river catchment areas. In total AIM were supplied with 26,002 herds to report on across each location and year. 2,198 of these herds were not included in the final dataset because they either did not have cattle in the period, or did not have sheep census returns in the period (or both).

https://data.gov.ie/dataset/temporal-land-use-patterns-and-livestock-numbers-sheep-across-several-river-catchments?package_type=dataset

Note:

This dataset is interesting as it is published by Catchment (not County or ED), which makes it useful for water quality purposes. So I asked the Open Data Officer in DAFM why this is the case. Response is as follows:

We received a specific request looking for land use patterns and livestock numbers across several river catchments and how these may have changed over time as part of the Climate Change Mitigation Research Programme | CCMRP | Inland Fisheries Ireland project. As part of the request, we were provided a shapefile by the requester for each river catchment area they required data for. LPIS generated lists of herds who had land in each river catchment area for each year. AIM provided the bovine and ovine figures for each herd in each year.

Temporal land use patterns and livestock numbers (cattle) across several river catchments

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Temporal land use patterns and livestock numbers across several river catchments. Within DAFM the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) division generated a list of herds who had land in each river catchment area for a select number of river catchments from 2014-2020. The departments Animal Identification & Movement (AIM) division provided the bovine and ovine figures for each herd in each year.

It should be noted that the AIM data was generated for herds who had land in each river catchment area. It is likely that some herds also had land outside the river catchment areas. In total AIM were supplied with 26,002 herds to report on across each location and year. 2,198 of these herds were not included in the final dataset because they either did not have cattle in the period, or did not have sheep census returns in the period (or both).

https://data.gov.ie/dataset/temporal-land-use-patterns-and-livestock-numbers-across-several-river-catchments?package_type=dataset

Note:

This dataset is interesting as it is published by Catchment (not County or ED), which makes it useful for water quality purposes. So I asked the Open Data Officer in DAFM why this is the case. Response is as follows:

We received a specific request looking for land use patterns and livestock numbers across several river catchments and how these may have changed over time as part of the Climate Change Mitigation Research Programme | CCMRP | Inland Fisheries Ireland project. As part of the request, we were provided a shapefile by the requester for each river catchment area they required data for. LPIS generated lists of herds who had land in each river catchment area for each year. AIM provided the bovine and ovine figures for each herd in each year.

Irish Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Environments (INCASE Project)

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Irish Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Environments (INCASE) is an EPA-funded research project. It kicked off in March 2019 and will run until 2023.

INCASE is the first Irish project to develop natural capital accounts for different sites in Ireland.​

The project team will prepare accounts for four catchments across Ireland using the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) Central Framework and SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounts guidelines. 

​Accounts for the four catchments will map the stocks and flows of ecosystem and geosystem services, highlight challenges, knowledge and data gaps, and recommend a framework to operationalise Natural Capital Accounting in Ireland.

Selecting the catchments

To choose the catchments for the project, we knew we wanted consider catchments that capture the flow from ‘mountains to sea’. ​We knew that if we wanted to scale up natural capital accounting nationally, we should choose catchments that already had reliable, nationally-available datasets. ​We wanted to maximise stakeholder engagement and synergies with existing projects so that we could gather as much as possible on the catchments in question. ​Our other considerations included geology, soils, climate, land-use, population, infrastructure and pressures. ​With all that in mind, we held a catchment selection workshop in November 2019 at which we decided on the four catchments listed below.

https://www.incaseproject.com/bride

https://www.incaseproject.com/caragh

https://www.incaseproject.com/dargle

https://www.incaseproject.com/figile

https://www.incaseproject.com/data-sources

You can also find a detailed overview of each catchment in the Appendix to the Feasibility report.

Phase 1 – Methods and Data: 
​
  • Produce a literature review on natural capital accounting to explore the various methodologies that are in use around the world.
  • Identify available data sources a;ong with data gaps. These data sources will inform the accounts, and contribute to the development of a framework for Natural Capital Accounting in Ireland.
  • Professor Jane Stout ofTrinity College Dublin leads this Work Package.
 
Phase 2 – Ecosystem Accounts:
​
  • Select four river catchments for study.
  • Collate existing datasets and develop indicators, and use them to generate a range of ecosystem accounts that describe habitat condition, habitat extent, as well as environmental flow accounts that might include water, land use and carbon.
  • Use these case studies to test the strengths and weaknesses of the accounts, and identify the data gaps.
  • Develop a framework to guide the appropriate use of monetary valuation and determine how these values can be integrated with existing economic and environmental policies to inform decision-making. While these accounts do not necessarily require monetary valuation, we will assess the efficacy of monetising the benefits to people that certain ecosystem services provide. 
  • Professor Mary Kelly Quinn of University College Dublin leads this Work Package.

​

​

Phase 3 – Economic Analysis:
​
  • Use an input-output model to assess the impact of policy change on natural capital stocks.
  • Use data visualisations to produce sectoral natural capital management frameworks.
  • Produce a gap analysis of information monitoring systems and policies underpinning them.
  • Conduct economic impact assessments to better understand the trade-offs between policy options.
  • Professor Stephen Kinsella of the University of Limerick and Professor Cathal O’Donoghue of NUI Galway each lead portions of this Work Package.

https://www.incaseproject.com/feed

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1470160X19306934#f0010

Environmental Consultancy Services to Develop a Framework of Best Practice Measures and Guidelines for the Protection and Restoration of High Status River Waterbodies

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The Waters of LIFE is an EU LIFE Integrated Project which aims to help reverse the deterioration of Ireland’s most pristine waters. The ongoing loss of high status waters is among the most concerning, protracted and persistent water quality trend in Ireland.

Other water quality trends have well-understood cause and effect, with detailed plans in place to mitigate impacts. More actions are necessary to protect pristine waters. Many of these waters are small, upland streams. The protection and restoration of these waters is one of the key underpinning principles of the Water Framework Directive.

The overall objective of the Waters of LIFE  IP is to support the implementation of measures to protect and enhance High-Status Waters and thus to support the work of the Blue Dot Catchments Programme as outlined at Section 8.3.2 (pages 103-105) of the River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2018-2021.

The Waters of LIFE IP will act as a catchment-scale demonstration project to test and validate the effectiveness of implementing locally-tailored ‘best practice’ measures across a range of landscape and land-use management activities typically associated with the catchments of high-status waters. The project will trial and validate the implementation of measures at the catchment scale across a number of pilot catchments with the view to building national understanding and capacity, optimising approaches for the targeting of measures in critical areas of the catchment, assessing the effectiveness of the approach and using the learnings from the project to inform and support ongoing work across all high-status catchments in the Irish River Basin District. It will demonstrate the effective implementation of an integrated catchment-based approach for the application of measures to protect and/or restore all waters for which a high-status objective has been identified in Ireland’s River Basin Management Plan.

Outputs from the project will support the refinement and ongoing development of guidance and measures for farming, forestry and other land-use practices in the catchments of high-status waters. Critically, project outputs will provide input to the development of future national policies and strategies for the protection of high-status waters, in particular approaches for the elaboration of future agri-environment and forestry support measures needed to protect and preserve this important environmental resource.

The project will focus on demonstrating the practical application of bespoke locally-tailored solutions at both the catchment and the plot scale, based on best scientific understanding of the environmental circumstances and priorities within individual catchments and taking account of the input and views of local farmers, landowners and people within the community who have knowledge of their own locality. The project will give strong emphasis to harnessing community involvement, ownership and goodwill in order to achieve mutual benefits and deliver the necessary land-use management changes to support the long-term protection and maintenance of high-status waters.

Tenders are invited for the provision of consultancy services to prepare a framework of best practice measures and guidelines for the protection and enhancement of high status river waterbodies.

All relevant measures that may have application in high status river catchments will be identified and evaluated through the review process. Although not all will be trialled in demonstration catchment applications in this project, the framework will be available for roll out to support RBMP objectives, and the wider Blue Dot Programme in particular, for the full range of national high status catchments and the diversity of issues and scenarios to be addressed.

201021-framework-of-measures-rftDownload

LAWPRO AIE Request: Priority Areas for Action (PAAs) 21/10/2021

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FOI-0421-2021 ( Submitted to AIE@housing.gov.ie who redirected to david.coleman@tipperarycoco.ie ) 1/11/21

“Under the AIE Regulations 2007-2018, please provide any communications which identifies the measures listed as “Quick Wins” by LAWPRO catchment scientists and passed on to ASSAP for action“


For context:

LAWPRO catchment scientists work in specific catchment areas called Priority Areas for Action (PAAs)

The list of Proposed Areas for Action can be viewed here
https://lawaters.ie/app/uploads/2021/09/National-Area-for-Action-Report_3rd-Cycle-Appendix.xlsx

There is a complete lack of transparency regarding the individual measures proposed, implemented, monitored and reported by LAWPRO (and ASSAP)

My understanding is the LAWPRO catchment scientists (there’s approx 37 of them) walk catchments to spot problems and then pass these to ASSAP to engage with the farmers, landowners, etc

Link
https://lawaters.ie/our-team/#filter=*

I would like to determine where these ‘Quick Wins’ are documented, initially written up by the Catchment Team, how they are passed to the ASSAP Team, and where all this work is eventually documented to determine is a “Quick Win” turned out to be quick and/or a win

For the purposes of this request please consider the Quick Wins in the 2nd Cycle (2018 to 2021), unless the Quick Wins have already been worked on for the 3rd Cycle (2022 to 2027)

Open Questions on water quality

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Note: List of unknowns, based on first four month of http://www.irishriverproject.com, in no particular order, and not comprehensive. As a ‘shopping’ list for water quality, this Q&A will be updated over time as PQs, FOIs and AIEs submitted, or as information is located from public sources

IrishWater audit reports on treatment plants, even following incidents at Ballymore Eustace and Gorey are not routinely published. EPA plant inspection reports are good but would be useful to have publication of both.  What is the status of chlorine alarms in relation to high chlorine levels, and plant auto/manual shutdowns?  Where EPA are critical of IrishWater, what does this mean in practice?  EPA reports are generally published annually in arrears, which means situation at particular plants can have changed

The Irish Pearl Mussel Project is a Dept of Agriculture agricultural payments scheme, which does not address (a) catchments outside the 8 Project catchments (20% of Pearl Mussel populations are not covered), and (b) does not address non-agricultural threats to Pearl Mussel populations. what measures are planned or currently in place to address both shortcomings? where water bodies fail to meet relevant water quality objectives for Pearl Mussel population eg Mountain, Carlow, what happens? Final Report requested on EU LIFE Project

Hard engineering approaches to OPW flood relief schemes are apparent in most if not all tenders published. what is less apparent are any national and local approaches to natural water retention (‘slow the flow’ measures). are there any examples of OPW tenders that address non hard engineering solutions ? eg hinged willow to stabilise banks and improve habitat, weir removal, wetland/bog restoration to retain water, etc? With a large number of projects moving forward, will they all be concrete based schemes, using pipes, embankments and culverts upstream of many towns.  CFRAM has identified a number of rivers for natural water retention measures (NWRM), eg Ara in Tipperary. Have any or all of these measures proceeded to tender?

Where potential for ‘quick wins’ are identified by EPA, local authorities, and LAWPRO where are these quick wins documented?  The LAWPRO process and documentation publication schedule is unclear, why is there a delay of up to two years on Desk Study publication? Are followup reports on stream walks published/circulated? How are handovers to ASSAP staff from LAWPRO staff reports, and improvements fed back? How are agri related enforcement actions progressed, as Teagasc/LAWPRO aren’t enforcement agencies?  Have requested update from LAWPRO, with a followup AIE on SOP documentation / sample documentation.

Is there a list of TraC water nitrate reduction areas?

Where deteriorated water bodies are noted, where are they documented, is there a single list/database? And do they each have a specific plan to address their deteriorated status?

Where a water body does not meet objectives for drinking water, what happens? eg MCPA in Lingaun, Tipperary

Why is there not a single body with responsibility for drinking water source protection ?  Currently Local Authorities, Irish Water, EPA, LAWPRO and ASSAP all have shared/joint responsibility – it is difficult to follow issues across multiple agencies

Is there a list of water bodies (eg Doo Lough, Clare or abstraction from Suck, Galway, Lough Rinn, Leitrim, Lough Eske, Donegal) that are failing to meet protected area objectives for MCPA ?

Where cattle access points are noted (eg 80 cattle access points identified in Boycetown River, Meath), are these points mapped and is there a funded programme available to support farmers with additional fencing requirements? Where fencing programmes are in place, what resources are in place to monitor their success ?  Cattle access to rivers/lakes appears in many reports, but there does not appear to be a working enforcement regime

Is there a plan to address catchments with a high number of derogation farms? eg Clodiagh, Waterford.  Submitted ODD request on derogation farms by townland, to identify high density/high nitrates areas.

Is there a current programme to address sheep dip in water (eg previously an issue in Donegal) – is it still an issue ?

What is the approach to nutrient release from lake sediment (eg Carrigdrohid, Cork), and how many lakes are impacted ?

Where long term risks are identified (eg five of six water bodies are At Risk in Athboy, Meath), is there a written catchment specific plan underway to address these challenges ?

Where LAWPRO actions are specified to ‘build on work completed by local authorities‘ eg Cavan, Meath, Kildare, where are these works documented, and what specific actions can be taken subsequently where the local authority works are complete? is there a published schedule of all local authority works with a potential positive impact on water quality? How do LAWPRO handover to local authorities in relation to local authority projects?

Where there are Irish Water and/or Group Water abstraction schemes in high risk catchments is there a written plan developed in conjunction with the abstraction bodies ?  Where abstraction becomes challenging, in the case of deteriorated water bodies, is there a contingency plan in place ? (eg Nadreegeel, Cavan).  Check GSI work on Irish Water abstraction issues on the east coast

Is there a publicly available listing of catchments under pressure from abstraction?  Irish Water abstraction points are redacted, Group Water Scheme abstraction points are published.

Is there a publicly available listing of catchments under pressure from BOTH abstraction AND pollution? (where pollution is putting additional pressure on the treatment of water abstracted, and/or the abstraction activities concentrate the pollution)

Are there particular issues with drinking water abstraction in specific rivers (eg Rathvilly from Slaney) ?  Where there are projects to examine the impact of abstraction (eg Finow, Kerry), where are the results of such studies published ?

Where there are desk studies into abstraction regimes on particular catchments, where are these published ? (eg Big River, Louth).  LAWPRO have published approx 12 catchment reports, but generally these desktop reports do not deal with abstraction in any detail.  Unclear if LAWPRO have access to EPA water abstraction data, which is not that detailed and often includes estimates rather than actual abstraction.  This may change with the new Water Abstraction Bill. 

Is there a listing of Bord na Mona water quality/conservation projects ? eg potential improvements from rewetting at Boora, Offaly. is there a published listing of bogs currently being drained (eg for windfarms or other reasons), where drainage activities are impacting on water quality (eg Mid Shannon).  AIEs with OIC, as BnM are circumventing AIE disclosure by stating drainage data is within close held companies, that are not subject to AIE.  Awaiting High Court decision in BnM OIC case.

What plans are in place or available to address spikes in ammonia from peat? eg Blackwater (Longwood), Kildare/Meath. is there a comprehensive list of catchments where ammonia from peat is a risk factor, if commercial peat extraction has not ceased, is this only a historic issue, or is ‘domestic’ peat extraction still a pressure on local waters?  How long after rewetting does it take for a watercourse to recover?

Is there a published listing of Coillte water quality/conservation projects? are there any non Coillte riparian woodland schemes currently funded in Ireland ?  Recent AIE suggests Coillte do have some water monitoring data, but unclear if this is comprehensive, or shared with Forest Service and/or other agencies

Where LAWPRO suggest there are opportunities to ‘build on improvement works at WWTPs‘ what does this mean in practice, where the works are essentially complete ? eg Oldcastle WWTP, Meath. Portarlington WWTP, Freshford WWTP etc and is there a schedule of all WWTP improvement works ? how are unlicensed discharges from pumping stations (eg Moate and Ballynagaul) currently logged and where are these logs published ?  EPA have taken a couple of court actions against Irish Water for unlicensed discharges.

Irish Water are to maintain national waste water capacity registers to ensure sufficient capacity in waste water networks to allow for balanced regional development in line with the National Planning Framework. Where are these registers published ?

What research has been done on the national and catchment level impact of septic tanks ?  There is one EPA research report, and some data on some local authority inspection/registration regimes, but what are the Dept policies / objectives.

Where the underlying groundwater is at risk, eg Derravaragh, Westmeath, is there a specific course of action outlined, and where is this documented ? Where groundwater abstraction is failing for nitrates eg Erkina, Durrow, Laois, what interim measures can be put in place to protect drinking water supply?  Barndarrig, Wicklow plant had nitrate alarm added following unexplained high levels (thought to be from slurry), but unclear which plants have nitrate alarms.

What is the current impact of historic and existing landfill sites on water quality? is there a list of catchments currently under pressure from landfill (open/historic)?  Which sites are the major concerns?

Is there a list of all barriers/weirs under consideration for removal to improve fish movement eg weirs preventing salmon movement on Dodder?

Where longer term, multi year projects are underway (eg Ringsend), what interim plans are in place to mitigate current pollution ?

What are the current issues and measures related to quarries and extractive industry?  Is there a list of catchments impacted by named quarries, with their locations, water abstraction data, and discharge licences (if applicable)?  AIE submitted to Fingal CoCo where there are multiple enforcement issues on multiple quarries

What is the impact of wind farms on water quality? and which catchments are impacted ? (eg Keel / Foherish, Cork or Cashia, Galway).  Plus the impact of developing wind farms on peatlands, and smaller issue of developing solar farms on peatland.

Where rivers discharge into designated bathing areas (eg Rogerstown Estuary, Donabate and Portrane) what specific measures are in place to protect and monitor bathing waters, eg upstream sewer improvements?

Where LAWPRO note ‘urban diffuse pressures,’ what does this mean in practical terms ? do all urban areas come under this heading ? if not is there a specific list of catchments impacted ? and another list of catchments in urban areas that do not have ‘urban diffuse pressures’ but instead have particular known addressable threats ?

Is there a published list of catchments under particular pressure from leaking sewers?

Is there a list of catchments under pressure from infrastructure development and construction? eg roadworks near Three Mile Water Wicklow, large housing developments near Vartry Wicklow?

LAWPRO measures include a large number of pilot projects across a wide range of schemes. Are these pilots documented and monitored within any particular framework, and by any single body? Are the funding details for each pilot project and the results in the public domain ?

Where ‘Greenways’ are planned alongside rivers/lakes, is there an appropriate environmental assessment / screening of the impact of these projects (also known as Blueways)?

Which local authorities have a Biodiversity Officer, and where are their contacts ?

When biodiversity audits are completed, eg by local authorities, where are they published ? is there a general requirement for biodiversity audits in relation to catchments? or are they limited to species audits, eg Pearl Mussel audit every six years

What national or regional programmes are currently in place to treat, eradicate and dispose of Invasive Alien Species, and where are the details on funding and progress to date?

Is there a database of marine areas that are currently failing to meet Protected Area objectives for shellfish (eg Bannow Bay, Wexford) ?

Where IFI are planning or have current instream works, where are these works published ?

Are there any current or planned projects to reintroduce Artic Char (eg Lough Dan, Wicklow, or Inchiquin, Clare) ?

 

 

 

 

Note on why building and using data on water quality is tricky

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Geographies of Catchments Data

In Ireland, integrated catchment management (ICM) is a dominant approach to water management. ICM manages water by integrating ecological factors with social, political, and economic ones to understand what affects water quality within a ‘catchment’ (an area from which water flows into a water body). Data problems, however, can limit the extent of this approach. When we explored publicly available data on economic and social factors that impact water quality to better contextualise the catchments in our field sites, we found it trickier to draw meaningful conclusions than we anticipated.

https://conifer.rhizome.org/MULibWeb/waterschemes/http://waterschemes.ie/2018/12/05/geographies-of-catchments/

Note: the original TCD/EPA project on waterschemes.ie seems no longer live, but can be accessed in archive on above link

Water Framework Directive Water Catchments

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The EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) (WFD) establishes a framework for the protection, improvement and management of surface water and groundwater. The Catchment dataset is built on clusters of subcatchments (derived from river waterbody polygons). All Catchments are represented as polygons.

https://data.gov.ie/dataset/water-framework-directive-water-catchments?package_type=dataset