The Ireland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a website for people to check the quality of the water in their area. The site, www.catchments.ie, will have information on rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It will have water-related environmental data, including maps and community-based stories, making it easier for people to get information about water quality and to get involved in protecting their local catchment. “For water, a catchment is simply defined as an area of land contributing to a river, lake or other waterbody,” said Paddy Morris of the EPA’s Catchment Science and Management Unit. “Living in a catchment that has healthy water can help a community have a better quality of life–the water can help make sure local people have high quality drinking water, support livelihoods like agriculture, recreational angling or water sports, and also support local ecosystems.”
