Local voices and actions essential in Ireland’s water quality journey

Addressing the Environment Ireland® Conference in Croke Park on Thursday, September 3, Teagasc Head of Water Quality Knowledge Transfer, Noel Meehen highlighted the importance of local representatives – whether farmers, industry representatives or the public – taking ownership of water quality in their specific catchment and delivering results.

Providing an overview of the Teagasc Better Farming for Water Campaign to delegates, Noel Meehan explained: “In 2024, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D. requested Teagasc to lead a national campaign to improve water quality.

“Taking a whole of industry approach, this multi-actor campaign has built on existing initiatives and centres of 8-Actions for Change in 8 priority catchments – the Boyne, Barrow, Nore, Slaney, Suir, Blackwater, Lee and Bandon-Ilen.”

Built upon 6 pillars of communications, research, knowledge transfer, upskilling, awareness building and stakeholder engagement, Noel Meehan explained: “The Better Farming for Water Campaign aims to support and accelerate the adoption of actions on all farms to improve all water bodies, where agriculture is a significant pressure, to good of high ecological status.”

Taking a catchment centred approach, each of the above catchments, Noel Meehan explained, has its own Catchment Implementation Group, consisting of an individual delivery team and oversight committee, which work closely with the catchment coordinator to deliver the catchment specific action plan.

Centred on a bottom-up approach, Noel Meehan explained: “The Better Farming for Water Catchment Implementation Group Oversight Committee develop, oversee and coordinate the implementation of Catchment Action Plans. They ensure that actions are delivered effectively, collaboratively and in alignment with campaign goals and objectives. They also monitor progress against targets and provide reports and identify and address barriers to implementation.

“Each oversight committee consists of key stakeholders, often an independent farmer or industry representative, the Teagasc Catchment Coordinator, representatives from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, Local Authorities, Teagasc, farmers, agri-food industry stakeholders and catchment scientists (LAWPRO).

“The delivery team work collaboratively with all stakeholders on improving water quality and they focus on carrying out actions as prescribed in the Catchment Action Plan through farm visits, Farming for Water EIP applications and farmer information meetings.

“They also provide regular reports on progress to the organisation’s representative on the oversight committee. This delivery team consists of regulators, such as local authorities and DAFM, ASSAP, Teagasc and Private advisors and organisations such as river trusts,” Noel Meehan explained.

For more information on the Teagasc Better Farming for Water Campaign, visit here

View Noel Meehan’s presentation to the Environment Ireland® Conference here.