Summary: Ireland’s waters are one of our major natural resources. Plentiful availability of good quality water offers a significant competitive advantage to sectors such as agriculture, industry and tourism. Water is a resource that must be carefully managed, and improving water quality status is a national priority for Ireland.
EPA Research’s water pillar deals with groundwater, surface water, transitional and coastal water; as well as wastewater, drinking, bathing and shellfish waters.
It will support the emerging policy & implementation research needs in relation to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as marine research considerations to support to the formulation and implementation of policies. In addition, the EPA is coordinating a multi-agency transboundary programme of research on Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Gas Exploration & Extraction (UGEE), which has significant water elements, and is included under Thematic area 5: Emerging and Cross-cutting Issues.
The overall aim of the water pillar is to support relevant water policy and to protect our water environment, contributing to achieving excellent water quality in Ireland.
