World Waters Day 2024
To mark World Waters Day on 22nd March 2024 a Green Estate Demonstration was held in Griffeen Valley Park, Lucan, for all household members. The demonstration was arranged to build awareness of the importance of good water quality in urban areas and the pollution generated from domestic misconnections.
The attendees were informed that misconnections tend to occur when homes are renovated or extended, resulting in a washing machine, dishwasher, sink or toilet being mistakenly connected to the rainwater drainage pipe instead of the foul wastewater pipe and polluted water being discharged into local rivers and streams.
The demonstration provided information to homeowners on how to find and fix misconnections, which will also contribute to addressing future misconnections.
LAMA Awards
The DURL Project celebrated being shortlisted for the Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) Awards on 17th February 2024 for the category of ‘Best Environmental Project’, with the South Dublin County Council Mayor and Councillors, as the project continues to raise awareness of the pollution from misconnected households to urban waterways. The Project has identified wastewater from over 1000 misconnected appliances, predominately washing machines, dishwashers, sinks and toilets, discharging to the Griffeen River and Carrickmines Stream. Householders repairs are helping to improve water quality and aquatic biodiversity in their local rivers with over 85% of these misconnections fixed to date.
Griffeen Valley Park and Dodder Valley Park Wetlands
The Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) Project has completed the construction of the Griffeen Valley Park wetland and the two wetlands at Dodder Valley Park. In February 2024 the three wetlands were shortlisted for the Green Awards under the category of ‘Sustainable Water Achievement Award’.
The construction of the first of the three wetlands commenced on 4th July 2022 and by 10th November 2022 all three wetlands were successfully completed within schedule. See images of the three wetlands below.
The wetlands have been planted with a variety of native reed, rush and flowering plant species that will enhance biodiversity in the Parks by attracting pollinators, insects, and amphibious creatures. The wetlands will continuously purify stormwater before it drains to the rivers thereby improving the water quality and aquatic ecosystems in both the River Griffeen and the River Dodder.
The three wetlands are not only meeting the objectives of the LIFE Project, but they are also fulfilling the objectives of the River Basin Management Plan 2022–2027, Water Framework Directive, Climate Change Action Plan, Floods Directive and draft Biodiversity Plan.
Data Management and Collection ESRI-Ireland Standout Success Award:
The DURL Project recently scooped an ESRI-Ireland Annual Standout Success award in the category of Data Management and Collection for its Domestic Misconnection Assessment IT Application. The Project’s GIS-based approach seeks to improve stormwater quality in rivers in South Dublin County and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County by making it quicker and cheaper to find pollution originating from houses. An overwhelmingly positive reception has been received at doorsteps for the project with 6,000+ houses assessed to-date.
Midlands and East Regional Operational Committee Meeting:
The Midlands and East Regional Operational Committee (ROC) meeting was hosted by South Dublin County Council on 12th October 2022 where the Project Manager Richard Fitzpatrick delivered a PowerPoint presentation on the DURL Project Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICWs). Participants from the EPA, Local Authorities, LAWPRO, ASSAP and Bord na Móna attended the meeting and a site visit at the Griffeen Valley Park wetland. Positive feedback was received with Local Authorities expressing eagerness to trial the Projects tools.
Dodder Valley Park Wetlands Community Planting Day
The images below show the engaging and enjoyable Community Wetland Planting day that was held at the Dodder Valley Park wetland on Friday 9th September 2022, with over 40 participants attending the event including local residents and representatives from Dodder Action, Tallaght Litter Mugs, Tallaght Community Council and Dodder Anglers Association.
The following is a list of the marginal wetland plants planted on the day:
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Irish pseudacorus | Yellow Iris/Flag Iris | Sturdy, yellow flowers, May-July, will slowly spread, but not invasive in the medium term |
| Caltha palustris | Marsh Marigold | Large yellow buttercup flowers in early spring, compact, doesn't go amuck, attracts early |
| Lysimachia nummularia | Creeping Jenny | Low growing, creeping, yellow flowers, summertime |
| Lysimachia punctata | Yellow Loosestrife | Spikes of yellow flowers in summer |
| Lythrum salicaria | Purple Loosestrife | Red flower spikes in late summer, a good insect attracter |
| Veronica beccabunga | Brooklime | Blue flowers, attracts bees and hoverflies |
| Cardamine pratensis | Cuckoo Flower/Lady's Smock | Pink-white flowers in springtime, foodplant of the Orange-tip butterfly |
| Filipendula ulmaria | Meadow Sweet | Spikes of white frothy flowers in late summer, good pollinator plant (already along the Dodder) |
| Mentha aquatica | Water mint | Great pollinator plant, blue flowers |
| Geum rivale | Water Avens | Pretty drooping pinky-red flowers in springtime - a great plant for bumblebees |
| Myosotis scorpioides | Water Forget-me-not | Low growing, blue flowers, early summer, attracts hoverflies and butterflies |
| Stachys palustris | Marsh Woundwort | Spikes of pink-purple flowers, all summer, great for bees |
Dodder Valley Park Wetlands Sod Turning Event
On 23rd August 2022 the South Dublin County Mayor Cllr. Emma Murphy and the Dún-Laoghaire Rathdown County An Cathaoirleach Cllr. Mary Hanafin turned the sod in Dodder Valley Park on the second and third of five Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE Project wetlands.
The Director of Services for Water Environment and Climate Change, Teresa Walsh and the Chief Executive of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council joined the Mayor and An Cathaoirleach to mark this phase of the project where the construction of the nature-based wetlands will not only fulfil the objectives of the LIFE project but also objectives of the River Basin Management Plan 2022–2027, Water Framework Directive, Climate Change Action Plan, Floods Directive, and draft Biodiversity Plan.
The Mayor noted that the wetlands will ‘support the Green Infrastructure objectives of South Dublin County Council’s Development Plan and will provide access to and connectivity between areas of interest for residents, wildlife and biodiversity and linkages between the natural waters of the River Dodder and the formalised park space.’ The Mayor also noted the wetlands will ‘also provide a water reservoir habitat during times of prolonged dry weather periods, something we see more and more of these days’.
An Cathaoirleach, Mary Hanafin commended ‘the joint workings of the two local authorities, with funding from Europe, for important environmental work such as the Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE project and such enterprise was to be replicated where possible.’ Councillor Hanafin also noted the positive water quality impact of project work finding domestic misconnections at houses in both counties.
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Griffeen Valley Park Wetlands Community Planting Day
An engaging and enjoyable Community Wetland Planting morning was hosted in Griffeen Valley Park on 5th August 2022 where over 40 people attended the planting event, including participants from local schools, residents, and Lucan Tidy Towns, see images below:
Griffeen Valley Park Wetland Sod Turning Event
On 26th May 2022 the South Dublin County Mayor Cllr Peter Kavanagh and the Dún-Laoghaire Rathdown County An Cathaoirleach Cllr Lettie McCarthy turned the sod in Griffeen Valley Park on the first of five Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE Project wetlands.
The Chief Executive of South Dublin County Council joined the Mayor and An Cathaoirleach to mark the beginning of this exciting phase of the project where the construction of the nature based wetlands will not only fulfil the objectives of the LIFE project but also objectives of the River Basin Management Plan 2022–2027, Water Framework Directive, Climate Change Action Plan, Floods Directive, and draft Biodiversity Plan.
The Mayor noted that ‘this wetland and those planned for Kilnamanagh, Dodder Valley Park and Tymon Park will transform the areas in which they are located from uniform amenity grassland into vibrant, aesthetically pleasing, and dynamic habitats where biodiversity thrives year-round.’ The Mayor added that ‘the construction of these wetlands is a cornerstone of the Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE project and supports its door-to-door assessments work in this catchment.’
An Cathaoirleach outlined that ‘Dún-Laoghaire Rathdown is in the early appraisal stages to build an Integrated Constructed Wetland at Cabinteely Park to compliment the door-to-door work being carried out by the DURL stormwater assessors in removing misconnections.’ An Cathaoirleach also confirmed that Dún-Laoghaire Rathdown ‘will be using the detailed roadmap (Decision Support Tool) the DURL Project is developing to create an ICW from start to finish (including information on Planning, Engaging with Stakeholders, Design, Tenders and Construction). This roadmap will be a very useful too to help other local authorities construct their own ICW’s.’
