Improving water high quality – the catchment method – Teagasc

29 October 2025

Attendees on the Teagasc Water Quality Conference, at present, October 29, heard New Zealand and Irish experiences of enhancing water high quality by means of a catchment science method.

Speaking at session two ‘Catchment science approach to improving water quality in an agricultural setting’ on the occasion in Co. Laois, Professor Richard McDowell, Principal Scientist New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Limited, shared insights on the New Zealand method to enhance water high quality in an agricultural catchment panorama.

Speaking on the convention, Professor McDowell stated: “Empirical evidence demonstrates that on-farm mitigation actions can improve surface- and groundwater quality when properly targeted, implemented, and maintained. The level of confidence in attributing observed improvements depends on data quality and analytical rigour.”

For enhancements to be realised, Professor McDowell detailed the five-step framework. This includes of goal setting, motion choice, implementation, monitoring and attribution. This, he defined, offers a scientifically defensible course of for linking farm actions to measurable freshwater enhancements.

Fiona Doolan caught up with Professor McDowell on the Water Quality Conference, watch the under video for key insights:

Professor Richard McDowell’s abstract factors:

• Farm plans are a wonderful means of linking actions to water high quality enhancements,
• Estimating the place and when water high quality will enhance could be performed and offers these concerned a timeline to work in the direction of,
• Emphasis must be placed on implementation to make sure that we have now the most effective probability of attaining enhancements,
• Additional actions could come up, however the impact of those could be included.

Dr. Per-Erik Mellander from the Teagasc Agricultural Catchments Programme adopted Professor McDowell, the place he shared experiences from Ireland.

“The Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP) plays an important role for the national strategy to improve water quality,” he defined.

Chief quantity its deliverables is a complete understanding of the processes concerned and the controlling elements that decide nutrient loss to water beneath the affect of adjusting drivers.

“There are critical source areas, critical mobilisation areas, critical delivery pathways, and critical delivery times for nutrients, Per-Erik Mellander explained, before adding: “Detailed insights need to be scaled up to larger areas and tested across scenarios to generate practical, evidence-based guidance for mitigation strategies.”

Dr. Per-Erik Mellander’s presentation abstract factors:

• The ACP performs an essential function within the nationwide methods for enhancing water high quality
• The ACP delivers a complete understanding of the processes that decide when, the place, and the way vitamins are misplaced to water beneath the affect of adjusting drivers
• These insights are complicated and should be simplified, scaled as much as bigger areas, and examined throughout eventualities to generate sensible, evidence-based steerage for mitigation methods
• Efforts to enhance water high quality additionally want to deal with governmental and social challenges
• We ought to purpose for a complete system-based method with long-term planning horizons.

For extra, Professor Richard McDowell’s presentation to the Teagasc Water Quality Conference is on the market to view right here (PDF).

For extra from the Teagasc Water Quality Conference, go to right here.

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