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Hydrology National Conference, November 2018 – hydrology and community involvement

This year, Ireland’s national hydrology conference has a theme of Hydrology and Community Involvement and will be held on Tuesday 20th November 2018 at the Mullingar Park Hotel.

The conference will focus on the interaction between hydrology and communities. Interactive community engagement and involvement is crucial for the successful implementation of water policies and projects. Allowing all stakeholders to bring forth their concerns and opinions can lead to reduced delays and costs, improved design, and a higher level of acceptance amongst the community. Increasingly the idea of community based (citizen science) monitoring and observation networks is gaining acceptance for enhancing the design of water related projects. It is therefore important to highlight the mutual benefits that can be gained from the participation of communities in the hydrological design process.

This year’s conference is inviting submissions of papers/posters that highlight how communities are informing hydrology related policies and projects and the mutual benefits to be gained from working together. These topics can range from case studies, to practical applications of hydrological practices, to research focused projects. The closing date for submissions is Friday 27 July.

Full details are available here: Call for Papers – Irish National Hydrology Conference 2018

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.