A major cross-border water quality project between Irish Water and NI Water funded under EU’s INTERREG VA programme drew to a close last week with the Source to Tap conference which took place at Fermanagh’s Lough Erne Resort.

The conference represented the culmination of five years’ work to improve water quality in the River Derg and River Erne catchment areas.

The €4.9 million project explored sustainable, cost-effective catchment management measures designed to protect source drinking water catchments in the future and trialled a range of innovative techniques, from farm water protection measures to peat bog restoration as well as working with local communities to educate them on the journey of water from source to tap.

For every £1 invested in Source to Tap’s Land Incentive Scheme, including future catchment investment, over £3 of water quality benefits could be delivered as well as improved catchment ecosystem services.

The project was funded by the EU’s INTERREG VA programme through the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) together with funding from the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland and the Department for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) in Ireland.

Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Edwin Poots MLA said INTERREG VA has been a great vehicle for delivering collaborative projects across both jurisdictions and to address common challenges faced on either side of the border.

Congratulating the project on its success Gina McIntyre Chief Executive of the SEUPB said:

“Both Northern Ireland and Ireland share a large number of freshwater river basins which provide drinking water for an ever-growing population. The EU INTERREG VA Programme contains a specific environmental protection objective which was designed to improve water quality for people living on both sides of the border.”

“The Source to Tap project has helped to fulfil this objective through a special cross-border partnership that has both protected and enhanced the quality of freshwater found across the region.”

NI Water’s Director of Asset Delivery, Paul Harper concluded:

“This project has undoubtedly enhanced the quality of water for thousands of properties across the region.

“Many benefits have been delivered, including farm water protection measures on 118 farms in the River Derg catchment, cutting edge catchment management science, as well as the restoration of over 20 hectares of peatbog.”

In the last five years, the Source to Tap Project has delivered:

A €1.16 million investment in on-farm water protection measures on 118 farms in the River Derg catchment. This was delivered by creating a unique, cross-border, pilot Land Incentive Scheme, which has resulted in a marked reduction in the volume of the herbicide MCPA in this source drinking water river.

Cutting edge catchment-management science, leading to a new understanding of how the herbicide MCPA moves through and persists in the island of Ireland’s watery landscape.

 Restoration of over 20 hectares of peatbog that was previously planted with Lodgepole pine using various techniques, including a new method called cell bunding.

Design and trial of new, low-cost measures to further reduce the impact of forestry clear felling on sediment loss to nearby rivers and streams in shared source drinking water catchments.

The collaborative, cross-border project - www.sourcetotap.eu - aims to deliver a legacy website for the protection of source drinking water catchments

The various outputs from the project will be made available on the website, underpinned by peer-reviewed science and economic analysis, so that others may learn from and replicate the Source to Tap approach to protecting shared drinking water catchments across the island of Ireland and beyond.