More than £380,000 has been allocated to 16 water quality
projects, including 11 within the Lough Neagh catchment, Minister
Muir has today confirmed.
The projects are to be funded under the Water Quality Improvement
Strand of the Environment Fund, following open competition
earlier this year, and builds on the achievements of 2025/26,
which saw £347,000 delivered to improve water quality.
The 16 projects support a wide range of activities that connect
people to the aquatic environment; conserve and restore water
habitats; and promote nature-based solutions for climate
mitigation and adaptation.
“After such a successful outing last year, I am delighted to
again deliver this funding to councils and non-profit
organisations to empower them to undertake projects that improve
our water quality,” said Minister Muir.
“The Water Quality Improvement Strand value lies in connecting
people to our loughs, lakes and waterways and encouraging them to
play their part in caring for our water environment. Last year,
over 700 volunteers and over 3,000 school pupils took part in
projects that saw 5.25 tonnes of litter collected, 1,350 trees
planted and 1,450 metres of riparian strip installed, among
a range of other environmental benefits. I think that is amazing
and I applaud all those who took part and delivered these
projects.
“I have no doubt that this year's projects will be just as
worthwhile and I look forward to seeing them delivering on the
ground in the Lough Neagh catchment and across Northern Ireland.”
The water quality improvement projects selected for 2026/27 will
be supported to deliver valuable initiatives, such as habitat and
drone surveying, invertebrate sampling and invasive species
mapping. The funding will also support educational programmes
that raise awareness and inspire positive change among primary
and post-primary school pupils.
Other activities include enhancing spawning habitats for
protected species, encouraging citizen science, organising litter
picks, running summer schemes focused on water quality,
installing log wall revetments and fencing, constructing leaky
dams, providing water awareness advice for farmers, and
delivering community workshops on water quality.
Funding delivered in 2025/26 saw 16 projects completed, which
delivered:
- 84 km of river surveyed across 7 projects.
- 5.25 tonnes of litter removed from the environment.
- 72 volunteer events hosted, focused on litter removal,
outfall safaris, water quality workshops, river clean-ups, and
invasive species removal.
- 723 volunteers engaged across the 16 projects.
- 241 members of the public/organisations trained in modules
including catchment management, invasive species, identifying
outfalls and riverfly sampling.
- 31 outfalls identified and mapped across 177 km of river.
- 1,450 m fencing installed, preventing cattle from entering
waterways.
- 6 leaky dams installed, aiming to slow the flow during
high-level events.
- 500 m of log wall revetment installed across 3 projects.
- 1,350 trees planted.
- 3,114 school children engaged, which included assemblies,
volunteer days and water quality-focused workshops both in
schools and at the River Torrent, where classes learnt how to
identify indicators of good water quality, and measure width,
depth and flow of the river.
- 23 interpretive panels installed, raising awareness of water
quality issues in the local area.
- 4 public webinars on water quality pressures and solutions,
with a total of 77 attendees across the webinar series.
- 1,450 m of riparian strip installed alongside 2
livestock drinkers.
- 5 farm advisors trained on water quality awareness.
- A water Awareness course developed for farmers with a
guidance booklet and video.
For further details about the Water Quality Improvement Strand
and updates on future funding opportunities, please visit:
https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/environment-fund-water-quality-improvement-strand.
The page is refreshed annually when funding becomes available,
subject to allocations.
Notes to editors:
1. The three key themes for funding under the Challenge
Competition are:
- Connecting people with the aquatic environment to achieve
behavioural change
- Conservation and restoration of our aquatic environments
- Nature-based solutions, particularly for climate change
mitigation and adaptation
2. The fund was a grant competition and not-for-profit
organisations and local councils were eligible to apply.
3. The maximum grant awarded was £30,000 and the minimum is
£5,000.
