County councils in Ireland have a very broad range of functions. The functions most relevant to catchment groups are the inspection, licensing, monitoring, complaint investigation and enforcement of regulations relating to water pollution, and a community development and support role.

Other state bodies with important functions relevant to water and nature management include Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Office of Public Works (OPW), Waterways Ireland, the Loughs Agency and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

It’s important for catchment groups to identify key stakeholders, funders, and opportunities to engage and to make a name for themselves through community contacts and available supports.

The first point of contact for catchment groups is the Community Water Officer attached to the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). LAWPRO is a shared service for Ireland’s local authorities. The service is managed jointly by Kilkenny and Tipperary County Council. Catchment groups should also be aware of the catchments.ie website – an essential resource for those engaging with our waters. LAWPRO have funding streams targeted at active catchment groups involved with water quality improvement and can advise generally of public body funding.

It is also important for catchment groups to familiarise themselves with the wider community functions and roles relating to Ireland’s local democratic structures -the Public Participation Networks (PPN), the Strategic Policy Committees (SPCs) and the support available for community development. Embedded within each local authority are officers or teams dealing with water & waste, biodiversity, heritage, climate, tourism, active travel and the arts. The libraries are a resource for groups in terms of potential event venues or participation in their outreach efforts e.g. the annual Science Week.

Note: The key parent Departments of the local authority sector are DHLGH (Dept Housing, Local Government and Heritage), DRCDG (Dept. of Rural & Community Development & the Gaeltacht and DCEE (Department of Climate, Energy & Environment).

Many state funds are administered by local authorities and advertised locally. Examples include: Community Development Fund, various Environmental, Biodiversity, Heritage and Climate Action Funds, Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme; Arts Grant Schemes; Festivals and Events Schemes; Tidy Towns Grant Scheme; etc.

You are also advised to check out the LAWPRO funding streams and identify an EIP project, Blue Dot Programme project and any other projects active in your catchment.

Groups wishing to avail of community funding and other related support must register with the Public Participation Networks (PPN) in their county/ies. This is a requirement to access local grants managed by the local authority. The PPN support worker is your point of contact. Members of the PPN will be notified of funding opportunities, training, public consultation processes, networking and local events and may be invited to represent the ‘Environment Pillar’ on local committees.

It is also worth noting that there may be small funds available from your local authority for activities/publications etc during global and national causes: World Wetlands Day (Feb), An Taisce’s National Spring Clean (month of April), Biodiversity Week (May), Climate Action week (Oct.) Heritage Week (August) and Science Week Ireland (Nov) etc. If your catchment group wishes to outreach to the public, participating in or partnering with the local authority during these events, can be beneficial in terms of publicity, funding and making a name for your group. The local authority has established contact lists and social media outlets to reach wider and new audiences.

In terms of the environment and water theme, key local authority contacts include the Community Water Officer (LAWPRO), Environmental Awareness Officer, Biodiversity Officer, the Climate Action Team, Heritage Officer, Fisheries Officer (IFI) and NPWS Ranger (particularly for protected areas and wildlife crime).

Catchment groups may benefit from collaborations with, for example, Tidy Town groups operating in their catchment. Tidy Towns are often local leaders on biodiversity initiatives and may wish to engage with local waters. Other nature restoration/conservation focused groups who are organised regionally and nationally are the Game Clubs and Angling Groups. These groups may not be involved with the PPN.

A further water focused group of interest is the National Federation of Group Water Schemes (NFGWS). A GWS is a community based private water supply. Currently schemes are involved in source protection planning & projects. In some counties the GWS sector may be involved with significant surface water bodies (e.g. Lough Carra, White Lough etc) and are a potential collaborator/knowledge source for catchment projects.

In addition to the regular topographical and water body map you could consider mapping features of interest to the local community. Some suggestions below, but also consult with local stakeholders:

relevant active communities within your catchment
points of interest to the community such are publicly accessible lakes, rivers and canals,
amenity areas, walkways, popular water sports areas, fisheries
Blue Dot rivers and areas of high-water quality status
geographical features of interest
protected areas
- lake and river water supply sources
- designated bathing areas, also include local popular swimming areas even if not designated
- natura sites, SPAs and SACs

There are several streams of funding for water and biodiversity projects from other funding bodies such as IFI , FLAGS, Waterways Ireland, NPWS, EPA. There are also funding calls with a specific focus on the environment such as the Climate Action Fund; Environment and Nature Fund and the Ireland Funds. Funding calls are open at various times during the year.

The Forest Service and Teagasc administer the Native Woodland Scheme; Agro-Forestry Scheme; Neighbour Wood Scheme; Woodland for Water; Woodland Environment Fund and various Agricultural Measures.

In conclusion, this article aims to identify local supports for catchment group capacity building and a range of stakeholders of interest to such groups. Navigating the local community support systems can be rewarding but challenging initially. While core funding is difficult to access, small local funds can assist with equipment, venue hire, resources, publications, surveys, expert hire etc. Training and feasibility study funding is available and can lead to bigger projects. Collaboration with other groups, NGOs or indeed public bodies may provide a route to larger environmental projects. Groups can ‘piggyback’ national events and avail of free publicity, venues and potentially, support for participation. The PPN provides a valuable information resource and a network of groups, many with an interest in the environment all striving to develop and enhance their community and locality.

Words: Bernie O’Hanrahan

Based in Ireland, Bernie has over 38 years’ experience in water management. Her career, initially with Monaghan CountyCouncil, involved work with water and wastewater, licensing and regulation, pollution monitoring and control and source protection. In more recent years, she was Regional Coordinator with the Local Authorities Waters Programme (LAWPRO) which is part of Ireland’s approach to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.