Project Aims
CatchmentCARE (Community Actions for Resilient Eco-systems) aims to improve freshwater quality in cross-border river basins across three cross-border catchments through the development of three water quality improvement projects in the Finn, Blackwater and Arney catchments and the installation of 50 groundwater monitoring stations across the region to better understand groundwater in the cross-border catchments and the interaction between groundwater & surface water bodies.
Project Actions
Working in partnership, the consortium will develop various policy actions, catchment actions and community actions, based on three critical criteria:
- A measurable impact on water quality,
- Be transferable beyond the three catchments,
- Contribute to a project legacy.
The actions selected will address water quality issues relating to hydromorphology, point and diffuse sources of pollution, farm nutrient management practices, characterisation and monitoring of groundwater quality, lag times in response to the implementation of measures and an economic analysis of the cost of achieving the objectives of the Water Framework Directive in the three catchments.
Geological Survey Ireland, British Geological Survey and Geological Survey Northern Ireland are leading out on the Groundwater theme, which includes the installation of groundwater monitoring stations, surveys of groundwater springs, undertaking surface and down-hole geophysics, and groundwater sampling.
CatchmentCARE also aims to deliver learning in schools and communities. A 7-week education pilot program was completed in 2019 in which several schools from all 3 catchments took part.
Furthermore CatchmentCARE will contribute to achieving good water status through the implementation of catchment restoration actions, capacity building of the local community, and crucially will provide a platform for cross-border knowledge exchange between community, governance, policy and scientific stakeholders.
