The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), in collaboration with Teagasc and Dairy Industry Ireland, have been successful in its application to deliver a new Water European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Project for Ireland.
European Innovation Partnership Agriculture (EIP-Agri) projects are locally led projects which are collaborative in nature, tackling issues affecting natural resources, such as water, in an innovative way. This 60-million-euro project hopes to bring about improvements in water quality with co-benefits for climate change and biodiversity.
This can be achieved through the adoption of innovative practices in nutrient management, the application of nature-based Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM) and other measures at farm level following the principles of Integrated Catchment Management.
Measures will be designed and implemented, in collaboration with farmers, and will be targeted specifically to address local challenges.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage have issued a press release (see below), and meetings are on-going with officials from both departments and our project partners in Teagasc and Dairy Industry Ireland regarding delivery of this project.
Further updates will be provided in due course.
Link to the press release: https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/1e42d-ministers-mcconalogue-and-obrien-announce-60-million-project-to-improve-water-quality/