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Community Water Development Fund now open for 2022

Grants are available from the Local Authority Waters Programme for communities to deliver water, biodiversity, and climate action initiatives.

Your local community or voluntary group can now apply for a grant under the Community Water Development Fund 2022. This Fund helps local communities deliver projects and initiatives that enhance the local water environment, delivering multiple benefits for biodiversity and climate action. The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) administers the Fund on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is open to all community and voluntary groups to apply.

LAWPRO launched the 2022 Fund at their annual ‘Communities Caring for Water’ conference held virtually on Saturday 20 November 2021. The conference is an annual event hosted jointly between The Rivers Trust and LAWPRO. This year, almost 300 attendees representing community groups across the whole of Ireland shared knowledge and experiences of caring for their local water environment.

Speaking at the event Sheevaun Thompson, Funding lead with LAWPRO said “since it was first launched in 2018, demand for the Community Water Development Fund has increased year on year. It is exciting to announce the fund for 2022 to support locally led community projects.”

You can complete the grant application form online at LAwaters.ie

Closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon on Tuesday, 8 February 2022.

Projects should show benefits for water quality, biodiversity, and climate action.

There is a total fund of €380,000 available for 2022. Grants awarded will range from €500 to €25,000.

If you experience any technical difficulties on the website, please email funding@lawaters.ie or contact LAWPROat Facebook.com/LAWPROteam.

About author

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.