Catchment News

Review of Water Resource Benefit Values (2008)

| in
Review of Water Resource Benefit Values (2008)

Version
Download17
Stock
Total Files1
Size164.70 KB
Create Date29th August 2008
Last Updated

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), inter alia, requires Member States to achieve at least good quality water status by 2015. To meet this requirement, it is envisaged that a number of initiatives will need to be undertaken to upgrade existing water bodies. The WFD requires the use of economic analysis in making choices between alternative initiatives and in justifying, where appropriate, either a deferral of achievement of the good status objectives or the adoption of a target below good status.

Economic analysis often puts monetary values on benefits arising from initiatives, and by contrasting these with the cost of the initiatives, reaches a view as to whether the initiatives are justified in economic terms. In the context of the WFD, this would require ascribing values to water resource benefits. The estimation of water resource benefit values is a substantial research activity internationally, although to date such values have been used relatively infrequently in Ireland.

The purpose of this review was to establish the degree to which such water resources values are available, both nationally and abroad, and to evaluate the robustness of these figures and their transferability to specific Irish conditions.


FileAction
1472469394wpdm_Review of Water Resource Benefit Values - Draft Reportv5.pdf  Download  

Download

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.

LAWCO

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.

EPA

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.

DECLG

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.