Case Studies on Local Catchment Groups in Ireland, 2018-2020
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project is funded under the EPA Research Programme 2021-2030. The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. It is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has the statutory function of co-ordinating and promoting environmental research. DISCLAIMER Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in this publication, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The Environmental Protection Agency, the author(s) and the steering committee members do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage occasioned, or claimed to have been occasioned, in part or in full, as a consequence of any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of a matter contained in this publication. All or part of this publication may be reproduced without further permission, provided the source is acknowledged. This report is based on research carried out/data from October to December 2020. The EPA Research Programme addresses the need for research in Ireland to inform policymakers and other stakeholders on a range of questions in relation to environmental protection. These reports are intended as contributions to the necessary debate on the protection of the environment. EPA RESEARCH PROGRAMME 2021-2030 Published by the Institute of Public Administration as part of a research programme funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. ISBN: 978-1-910393-36-9 EPA RESEARCH PROGRAMME 2021-2030 Case Studies on Local Catchment Groups in Ireland, 2018–2020 Prepared for the Environmental Protection Agency by Institute of Public Administration Authors: Micheál O Cinnéide, Joanna O’Riordan and Richard Boyle Research Report 3 4 Case Studies on Local Catchment Groups in Ireland, 2018–2020 Executive Summary / 6 01 Introduction and background / 8 02 The River Moy Trust / 16 03 The Inishowen Rivers Trust / 21 04 Organisational structures / 30 05 Human resources and capacity / 32 06 Institutional capacity / 36 07 Budgetary and financial systems / 39 08 Fit with OECD water governance principles / 45 09 Conclusions and Lessons for the Third Cycle RBMP / 54 References / 58 Abbreviations / 61 Appendix 1. List of interviewees / 62 Appendix 2. Rivers Trust article in EPA Catchment News, 2016 / 62 Appendix 3. Summary of LAWPRO funding, 2020 / 63 Research Report 5 he Water Framework Directive (WFD) seeks to protect and Timprove water including rivers, lakes and coastal waters in Europe. The WFD objectives are implemented through River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). Ireland created new structures for water governance for the second cycle, RMBP 2018–2021. Executive This report seeks to draw lessons from the water governance Summary arrangements at a local level for the River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, 2018–2021. It includes two case studies, from the River Moy Trust and the Inishowen Rivers Trust , with an outline of their role in knowledge creation. These case studies were chosen from the spectrum of community water groups, as they have built up an active presence in their catchments and have engaged closely with the Local Authority Waters Programme’s (LAWPRO) community teams and with the Rivers Trust movement. This report seeks to draw lessons from the water governance arrangements at a local level for the River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, 2018–2021. It includes two case studies, from the River Moy Trust and the Inishowen Rivers Trust, with an outline of their role in knowledge creation. 6 Case Studies on Local Catchment Groups in Ireland, 2018–2020 ‘Experimental governance’ is a phrase used by academics to continued activity and growth of trusts or catchment groups. describe a system of governance that is open to change as a Reviews by Pellegrini et al. (2019) and others show that in other result of the lessons learned through implementation (Sabel countries, a spectrum of catchment-based structures have and Zeitlin, 2012). In another paper that is part of this research evolved in response to the Water Framework Directive. These programme, it is suggested that water governance in Ireland initiatives are found in England (such as Rivers Trusts), Sweden, includes many features of experimental governance (Boyle et Denmark and elsewhere, with access to ongoing operational al., 2021). In assessing the case studies, use is made of certain funding as a safeguard to their continuity. enabling conditions identified as creating a supportive environment for experimental governance initiatives (Boyle et Ireland has made good progress in the second-cycle RBMP, and al., 2021). Where these conditions are absent, or weak, the effective relationships are being developed, but the community chances of successful outcomes are reduced. The four enabling water structures are not as yet on a sustainable footing. conditions are: organisational structures; budgetary and financial systems; human resources and capacity; and The final section considers the lessons learned at the institutional capacity. These are examined in relation to the catchment level and makes some suggestions for policy emerging catchment trusts. The OECD Principles on Water supports and governance arrangements for the third-cycle Governance (OECD, 2015) are also used as a framework for RBMP. Some key recommendations are as follows. assessing local, catchment-level activity in the case-study trusts. • The initial phase of LAWPRO activity brought dividends in terms of community outreach, but the insights, skills and A qualitative approach was considered appropriate for data benefits of engaging with communities need to be actively gathering and analysis. Interviews with a range of stakeholders leveraged across both the community and catchment provided insightful information. The case studies were teams far as possible. The lead department (DHPLG), the supported by literature review and documentary analysis Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), LAWPRO and other relating to the River Trusts in Donegal and Mayo. The role of coordinating groups should engage in a structured catchment groups as settings for learning and knowledge dialogue with An Fóram Uisce , Rivers Trusts and the creation was assessed. emerging networks to agree a revised framework of stakeholder engagement for the next RBMP. This could While the River Moy Trust, formed in Mayo in 2017, has made include consultative structures on water and environment good progress, it is challenged by a combination of factors, issues at both county and regional levels, with a including the lack of a framework that enables financial support structured, two-way communications flow to An Fóram and capacity building, and the social geography of its large Uisce and to Tier 1 policy level. catchment. The Inishowen Rivers Trust (IRT) was established in • The review of structures and policy frameworks for north Donegal in 2016 and has matured more slowly than some catchment groups in the Third River Basin Cycle should be other Irish catchment groups. Since their inception, both trusts accompanied by a commitment to provide a blend of core have provided a fruitful setting for informal knowledge creation. funding and project support, to ensure a transition to a more sustainable and participative WFD landscape. The study finds that while solid progress has been made under • The LAWPRO Water Fund should be scaled up, to provide the second-cycle RBMP in kindling public awareness and for core funding and bring an element of continuity for participation, which have improved since 2016, catchment community water groups, based on an annual work groups, rivers trusts and other local initiatives are challenged programme. in key elements of organisational structure, human resources, • It is timely for the departments, EPA and LAWPRO to financial capacity and role clarity within water policy. It suggests review their current approach and work to mainstream that the current model of financial support for catchment transparency practices across the water governance groups is inadequate, with little support for personnel costs and frameworks, to create greater accountability and trust in a reliance on project funding. If maintained in its current scale decision making. and form, the funding approach will be an impediment to the Research Report 7 1 1.1 Experimental governance defined Countries and governments are facing difficult challenges, such as climate Introduction change and water management, which are referred to in the literature as ‘wicked problems’ (Head and Alford, 2015). To face these challenges, the and background different parts and levels of government have to coordinate with each other and with non-government actors in civil society and the private sector. In response to uncertainty, governments are inclined to set up collaborative governance arrangements. Sabel and Zeitlin (2012) coined This report assesses the the term experimentalist governance to describe one way in which these experiences of two catchment collaborative governance arrangements have evolved in the face of such groups and examines some of wicked problems, fragmentation of political authority, and the uncertainty the learnings from the water of technological and social conditions. governance arrangements put in place at the local, community level In essence, this means a system of governance that is open to change, for the River Basin Management based on the practical lessons learned through implementation. It is an Plan