Community Information

Engagement with communities and local groups around water quality is a core function of LAWPRO.

Community Water Officers, working at both water body and catchment scales, continue to build awareness, help build group capacity, support training and citizen science initiatives and strengthen links between public bodies, funders and communities.

Community involvement is key to the protection and management of local waterbodies. This is being achieved through a three-stage process:

  1. Raising awareness of LAWPRO and engaging communities on local water quality issues and concerns.
  2. Supporting community involvement in the stewardship of local streams, rivers, lakes, and coasts.
  3. Building capacity within local communities through knowledge, funding and training.

Meet the team

LAWPRO has networks of active communities with the knowledge, skills, and capacity to make a difference. In this way, LAWPRO’s Community Water Officers have established themselves as contact points for local communities. This is clear by the growing number of groups and champions getting involved in caring for their local water environment.

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Funding

Providing funding and grants is central to LAWPRO’s work with communities and organisations across Ireland. Throughout the year, there are opportunities for groups to avail of funding from our various funding schemes including:

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TidyTowns Waters and Communities Award

As part of the TidyTowns Awards, the Waters and Communities Special Award aims to encourage communities to get more involved with their local water bodies by helping to preserve, promote and fully utilise their local natural heritage. It recognises community groups that showed an appreciation for their water environment, and for water heritage in general.

The Waters and Communities Special Award is funded by Inland Fisheries Ireland, Waterways Ireland and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

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Water Heritage Day

Funded by LAWPRO, in collaboration with the Heritage Council, the Water Heritage Day award recognises projects and events that explore, celebrate, and protect Ireland’s waterways during Heritage Week.

The events highlighting the importance of rivers, lakes, canals, and coasts in our heritage, culminating in a national celebration of Water Heritage Day at the end of Heritage Week.

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Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) Community Water Officer for Cork, Ellen Murphy, alongside members of the Conna Community Council at the National Heritage Awards 2025.

Citizen Science

LAWPRO encourages our communities to have an active involvement in their local waterbodies. Citizen science engages the general public in scientific research, data collection and data analysis.

It allows the public to gain a better scientific understanding of their local rivers, streams, lakes and coastal water.  

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Stories from the Waterside

Ireland has a rich heritage of storytelling. In fact, it is part of our national identity and helps define us as a nation. Stories bring memories to life and help us reconnect with special places, including our favourite waterways. 

Initiated during the Covid-19 lockdown, Stories from the Waterside was a story writing competition to promote the value of local waters.

Stories from the Waterside

Communities Caring for Water

Alongside The Rivers Trust, the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) organises the Communities Caring for Water Conference as a platform to showcase successful projects and initiatives by energetic and ambitious groups across the country.

The conference features talks from community groups, experts and water quality advocates covering a number of different themes.

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GAA Green Clubs Programme

The GAA Green Clubs Programme is a partnership between the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association and local authorities across Ireland. This partnership has its origins in the Sustainable Development Goals Champions Programme.

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Catchments.ie

For water, a catchment is simply defined as an area of land that drains into a river, lake or other body of water.

Living in a catchment that has healthy water can help a community to have a better quality of life.

catchments.ie shares science and stories about Ireland’s water catchments, and people’s connections to water.

Visit catchments.ie