Minister Muir announces £380,000 in funding to improve water quality
Date published:
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 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.
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