A broadened vision for the future of the group water scheme sector in Ireland

The group water scheme (GWS) sector traces its genesis back to the early 1960s and the campaigning efforts of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA). Some 60 years later, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes (NFGWS) has been reflecting upon the sector’s journey and the enhanced role it can have in rural society’s future, Mark Farrelly writes.

Hundreds of community-owned and community-operated group water schemes were established from the 1960s onwards, all with one clearly defined goal: the provision of piped, potable water to their members. Today, Ireland is acknowledged as having one of the best organised and most vibrant community-owned and community-run rural water sectors in Europe. The provision of potable water to circa 300,000 GWS members is, and will always be, the sector’s number one priority. Its approach in this regard has the potential to benefit local communities and the environment in a much wider context.

The sector’s strategy of prioritising drinking water source protection as the first port-of-call in quality assurance is now well-established and has been further vindicated by the water safety planning approach set out in the recast EU Drinking Water Directive, which will be transposed into Irish legislation in 2023. Since 2005, the NFGWS has been working with individual GWSs, government departments and other stakeholder organisations to pilot a variety of source protection projects around Ireland. At present, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) is funding the development of 14 bespoke GWS integrated source protection plans, while the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has funded the implementation of mitigation measures within seven GWS catchments.

Through these projects, it quickly became clear that the sector’s source protection efforts can also help address issues of widespread water pollution, as well as the biodiversity and climate crises faced by Irish society.

The creation of smart buffers in targeted areas along water courses to attenuate surface water and restrict livestock access also prevents nutrient run-off into the aquatic environment. They also provide habitat for biodiversity and sequester carbon. GWS-led education and awareness campaigns have been helping to change behaviours within local communities, making them more cognisant of the threats posed by pesticides and other contaminants to water quality.

As the scientific evidence is already available, the task at community level is to build awareness about what the science is telling us and to explain how our behaviour can effect change for better or for worse. Once citizens are made aware of how their everyday lives/working situations impact on their immediate environment, and on their drinking water source, the GWS sector’s experience is that they will be more easily persuaded to change their ways, to see the need to respect their environment, and contribute to the restoration of nature. It all depends on how they are approached and by whom.

GWS employees and committee members are known and trusted within their own communities. Locals are willing to listen to their expertise and, given that members are themselves shareholders in the scheme, there can be a greater sense of ownership over the drinking water source and its catchment area.

As part of its contribution to the ongoing review of the rural water sector, during 2021, the NFGWS board of directors and staff developed a key document that sets out the Federation’s vision for the future of the sector. It argued that the evaluation criteria of a GWS expand beyond purely economic, cost-based considerations and instead considers its wider value to the community it serves.

In an effort to better understand how the sector’s intangible assets might be quantified, the NFGWS commissioned Dublin City University’s (DCU) Water Institute and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) to complete a scoping exercise. The recently published report used a systems-thinking approach which demonstrates the impact a GWS can have on its members’ health and wellbeing, as well as the natural environment.

It also highlighted how the GWS governance structure, focused on ‘inclusive engagement and participation’ is an essential element of a community-run service, but similar examples of such effective models around environmental management are rare in Ireland.

There is still work to be done for the sector to completely address some legacy water quality issues on a small number of GWSs, and, like other voluntary organisations, attracting new members to committees/boards of management will always be a challenge, but there is much to be excited about.

Recent advances in science and technology have helped make information more accurate and accessible than ever before. The NFGWS is seeing widespread participation in its online training courses from GWSs all over the country. Social media and online videos are helping GWSs to educate, engage, and inspire members in a way not possible in the past. Committees and boards of management around the country are filled with experienced community leaders who are teaching and encouraging a new generation. The spirit and passion of the founding ICA members is still burning in those who carry on their legacy today and into the future.

The full NFGWS rural water review submission, ‘A New Direction for the Group Water Scheme Sector’, is available to read at www.nfgws.ie/nfgws-submissions-2021

T: 087 612 4089
E: mark@nfgws.ie
W: www.nfgws.ie