Pathways Project: Assessing, modelling and managing water and contaminant movement along pathways (underground and over-ground) from the land surface to aquatic receptors, including the roles of contaminant transport and attenuation.
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Resource or Project Abstract
The Pathways Project investigated contaminant transport pathways in Irish catchments and developed a national suite of Catchment Management Support Tools (CMST). These CMST tools were developed to assist in the delineation of critical source areas (CSAs), i.e. areas making disproportionately higher contributions to overall pollutant loads, for use by environmental and water managers. This required improved characterisation of the hydrological pathways delivering water borne contaminants to aquatic receptors. A preliminary four-pathway working conceptual model was identified that included overland flow, interflow, shallow groundwater flow and deep groundwater flow, while the main contaminants of interest were phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment. A literature review identified a number of knowledge gaps which guided the research. Field and modelling studies were conducted in four study catchments to improve the understanding of contaminant transport along the different hydrological pathways, including their associated impacts on water quality and river ecology. This field-based research, which built on the existing literature, informed the development of the CMST.
All outputs from the PATHWAYS project are available here - conference papers, workshop presentations, links to Journal papers, etc. Datasets will be publicly available in 2016.
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Contact Information for This Resource
Data, Files, Information Objects Related To This Project Resource
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Attachment Name and Download Link |
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Att 1 EPARR_165_Archbold_PATHWAYS_prn.pdf (6.84 Mb) |
Att 2 Pathways_Project_Vol_3.pdf (5.47 Mb) |
Att 3 Pathways_Report_Volume_2.pdf (2.13 Mb) |
Att 4 Pathways_Project_Vol_1.pdf (10.97 Mb) |
Att 5 EPARR_165_Archbold_PATHWAYS_web.pdf (3.95 Mb) |
Att 6 Pathways_4-Mattock_spatial_sheet.xlsx (0.83 Mb) |
Att 7 Pathways_2-Nuenna_spatial_data.xlsx (1.91 Mb) |
Att 8 Pathways_1-_Gortinlieve_spatial_sampling.xlsx (1.01 Mb) |
Att 9 Pathways_3_-Glen_Burn_spatial_sampling.xlsx (0.84 Mb) |
Att 10 Environ2010.ppt (2.05 Mb) |
Suggested Citation Information
The information supplied in the table below should be provided with all citations to this electronic resource. You are requested to format each of the fields below as required by the specific bibliographical style you are using.
Author(s) | Archbold, M. |
Title Of Website | Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data |
Publication Information | Pathways Project: Assessing, modelling and managing water and contaminant movement along pathways (underground and over-ground) from the land surface to aquatic receptors, including the roles of contaminant transport and attenuation. |
Name of Organisation | Environmental Protection Agency Ireland |
Electronic Address or URL | https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=0b97dfcc-8876-11e5-ab63-005056ae0019 |
Unique Identifier | 0b97dfcc-8876-11e5-ab63-005056ae0019 |
Date of Access | Last Updated on SAFER: 2025-02-17 |
An example of this citation in proper usage:
Archbold, M. "Pathways Project: Assessing, modelling and managing water and contaminant movement along pathways (underground and over-ground) from the land surface to aquatic receptors, including the roles of contaminant transport and attenuation.". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=0b97dfcc-8876-11e5-ab63-005056ae0019 (Last Accessed: 2025-02-17)
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Access Information For This Resource
SAFER-Data Display URL | https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=3082 |
Resource Keywords | catchments, critical source areas, diffuse agriculture, water quality, flow pathways, surface water-ground water interactions, nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, catchment management support tools, aquatic ecology |
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code | 2007-WQ-CD-1-S1 |
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme | Water Quality |
Resource Availability: |
![]() Public-Open |
Limitations on the use of this Resource | Any attached datasets, data files, or information objects can be downloaded for further use in scientific applications under the condition that the source is properly quoted and cited in published papers, journals, websites, presentations, books, etc. Before downloading, users must agree to the "Conditions of Download and Access" from SAFER-Data. These appear before download. Users of the data should also communicate with the original authors/owners of this resource if they are uncertain about any aspect of the data or information provided before further usage.
Datasets shall be under an access embargo until 31/12/2016. You will need to contact the resource owners directly if you require access before this time. |
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download): | 79 |
Project Start Date | Tuesday 1st July 2008 (01-07-2008) |
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects | Tuesday 1st July 2008 (01-07-2008) |
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects | Wednesday 11th November 2015 (11-11-2015) |
Published on SAFER | Wednesday 11th November 2015 (11-11-2015) |
Date of Last Edit | Wednesday 9th March 2016 at 12:05:13 (09-03-2016) |
Datasets or Files Updated On | Wednesday 9th March 2016 at 12:05:13 (09-03-2016) |
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Geographical and Spatial Information Related To This Resource
Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
One of the main output of the project was to develop a catchment management support tool (CMST) that could delineate critical source areas from diffuse agriculture at a national scale. These maps are being used by the EPA for Water Framework Directive Catchment Characteristation. A data exchange tool is currently being developed in the EPA to disseminate these maps nationally along with all other WFD related datasets. The CMST was informed by other national and international research and datasets and fieldwork was also undertaken in four study catchments. The catchments included three poorly drained catchments underlain by poorly productive aquifers, namely the Mattock in Co. Louth/Meath, the Glen Burn in Co. Down, and Gortinlieve in Co. Donegal, along with the well-drained Nuenna catchment underlain by a regionally important aquifer, in Co. Kilkenny.
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Supplementary Information About This Resource
In this section some supplementary information about this resource is outlined. Lineage information helps us to understand why this project was carried out, what policy or research requirements did it fulfil, etc. Lineage is important in understanding the rationale behind the carrying out of a project or the collection of a specific dataset etc. Links to web sites, applications, papers, etc are outlined to provide you with additional information or supplementary reading about the project or dataset
Lineage information about this project or dataset |
Characterisation and implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires a holistic understanding of the hydrological cycle and how human pressures may impact groundwater, surface water and relevant ecological receptors at a catchment scale. Irish hydromorphological and geological conditions make this task particularly challenging. This multidisciplinary study integrated existing research/data with further focused fieldwork employing proven techniques, to better constrain flow and transport pathway models for nitrogen and phosphorus for diffuse agriculture. This improved our understanding of the pathways transporting nutrients and informed the development of a catchment management support tool for diffuse agriculture. This tool will be used by the EPA to inform where WFD investigative assessment is required to determine where measures are need to protect or restore our water environment. |
Supplementary Information |
About the Datasets As outlined above there is an embargo on access to the datasets from Pathways until December 2016. A dataset will be provided for each of the four study catchments. Multiple (30) water quality parameters were analysed including nutrients and sediment. Each dataset contains an indicitive map showing the spatial locations of the samples taken (however exact co-ordinates are not provided as this was the agreement with the landowners). The datasets contain all spatial monitoring data for the four study catchments from 2010-2012. Components of the catchment managament support tool have been incorporated into the EPA IT systems to genernated critical source are maps and are too large to upload to SAFER.
Data Contributors: Marie Archbold, Alison Orr, Joshua Thompson, Ray Flynn at Queen's University Belfast Pamela Maher, Ian Packham, Eva Mockler, Michael Bruen, Mary Kelly-Quinn at University College Dublin Bruce Misstear, Jenny Deakin, Ronan O' Brien, Laurence Gill at Trinity College Dublin Kate Kilroy, Vincent O'Flaherty at National University of Ireland - Galway Met Eireann Coillte Environmental Protection Agency OPW, Teagasc, Geological Survey of Ireland, Central Statistics Office, RPS Consulting Engineers. |
Links To Other Related Resources |
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