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Home News Can you survey your coast before 23 October 2022? Join the annual Coastwatch Autumn Survey.

Can you survey your coast before 23 October 2022? Join the annual Coastwatch Autumn Survey.

This year’s Coastwatch Survey has been extended until Sunday 23 October due to inclement weather, so you still have time to take part in a Coastwatch Survey of your coastline. This survey is designed to give an overview of the state of the coast. It involves volunteers from all walks of life checking their chosen 500m stretch of coast (survey unit) once around low tide, and jotting observations down on the survey questionnaire while on the shore.

The Coastwatch survey was born in 1987 and has adapted over time with updates from paper maps to modern GIS and alignment to EU water law like the MSFD, WFD, Waste and Nature law. It takes in several countries all around Europe, with some common base questions that are identical and can be pooled for an European report.

If you would like to take part, you will need to choose a 500 meter stretch of coast and survey that before 23 October. Full details and how-to guides are on the Coastwatch website.

Learn more:

www.coastwatch.org/europe/survey

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EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.