Ireland's UN SDGs 2019 - Report on Indicators for Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

1. Enabling Environment Section

¹ Sub-national includes jurisdictions not at national level, such as: states, provinces, prefectures, counties, councils, regions, or departments.  In cases where there are no explicit sub-national policies, please answer this question by considering how national policies are being implemented at sub-national levels.  Responses should consider the highest, non-national level(s) as appropriate to the country.  In the status description, please explain which level(s) are included in the response.

² At the basin/aquifer level, please include only the most important river basins, lake basins and aquifers for water supply or other reasons.  This question only refers to these basins/aquifers.  These basins/aquifers are likely to cross administrative borders, including state/provincial borders for federal countries.  The basins may also cross-national borders, but this question refers to management of the portions of basins within each country.  Question 1.2c refers specifically to transboundary arrangements for basins/aquifers shared by countries.

³ For ‘transboundary’ definition and guidance on how to fill out all transboundary level questions, see Annexes A and B.  All transboundary level questions should reflect the situation in most of the ‘most important’ transboundary basins/aquifers, as listed in Annex B.  An ‘arrangement’ should be a formal commitment, and may be referred to as a bilateral or multilateral agreement, treaty, convention, protocol, joint declaration, memorandum of understanding, or other arrangement between riparian countries on the management of a transboundary basin/aquifer.  Refers to international basins/aquifers only.  Arrangements may be interstate, intergovernmental, inter-ministerial, interagency or between regional authorities.  They may also be entered into by sub-national entities.

⁴ Sub-national includes jurisdictions not at national level, such as: states, provinces, prefectures, counties, councils, regions, or departments.  In cases where there are no explicit sub-national regulations, please answer this question by considering how national regulations are being implemented at sub-national levels.  Responses should consider the highest, non-national level(s) as appropriate to the country.  In the status description, please explain which level(s) are included in the response.

⁵ This question has replaced question 1.2d from the baseline survey instrument, which was for federal countries only.

2. Institutions and Participation Section

⁶ ‘Government authorities’ could be a ministry or ministries, or other organizations/institutions/agencies/bodies with a mandate and funding from government.

⁷ Relates to coordination between the government authorities responsible for water management and those responsible for other sectors (such as agriculture, energy, climate, environment etc.) that are dependent on water, or impact on water.  Coordination between groundwater and surface water development/management should also be optimised.  The relevant sectors should be considered according to their importance for the country.

⁸ ‘The public’ includes all interested parties who may be affected by any water resources issue or intervention.  They include organizations, institutions, academia, civil society and individuals.  They do not include government organizations.  The private sector is addressed separately in the next question.

⁹ Private sector includes for-profit businesses and groups.  It does not include government or civil society.  While this question is mainly focused at the national level, please respond at the level that is most relevant in the country context.  Please explain this, including differences between implementation at different levels, in the ‘Status description’ field.

¹⁰ IWRM capacity development: refers to the enhancement of skills, instruments, resources and incentives for people and institutions at all levels, to improve IWRM implementation. Capacity needs assessments are essential for effective and cost-effective capacity development. Capacity development programs should consider gender balance and disadvantaged/minority groups in terms of participation and awareness. Capacity development is relevant for many groups, including: local and central government, water professionals in all areas - both public and private water organisations, civil society, and in regulatory organisations. In this instance, capacity development may also include primary, secondary and tertiary education, and academic research concerning IWRM.

¹¹ At the basin/aquifer level, please include only the most important river basins, lake basins and aquifers for water supply or for other reasons.  This question only refers to these basins/aquifers.  These basins/aquifers likely cross-administrative borders, including state/provincial borders for federal countries.  The basins may also cross national borders, but this question refers to management of the portions of basins within each country.  Question 2.2e refers specifically to transboundary management of basins/aquifers shared by countries.

¹² Could be organization, committee, inter-ministerial mechanism or other means of collaboration for managing water resources at the basin level.

¹³ ‘The public’ includes all interested parties who may be affected by any water resources issue or intervention.  They include organizations, institutions, academia, civil society and individuals.  They do not include government organizations.  The private sector is dealt with separately in question 2.1d.

¹⁴ Examples of ‘local level’ include municipal level (e.g. cities, towns and villages), community level, basin/tributary/aquifer/delta level, and water user associations.

¹⁵ Vulnerable groups: groups of people that face economic, political, or social exclusion or marginalisation.  They can include, but are not limited to: indigenous groups, ethnic minorities, migrants (refugees, internally displaced people, asylum seekers), remote communities, subsistence farmers, people living in poverty, people living in slums and informal settlements.  Also referred to as ‘marginalised’ or ‘disadvantaged’ groups.  While women are often included in definitions of ‘vulnerable groups’, in this survey gender issues are addressed separately in question 2.2d.  The score given for this question should reflect the situation for the majority of the vulnerable groups.  This question has been added since the baseline to capture an element of stakeholder participation which is important in the context of ‘leave no-one behind’ – one of the key principles of Agenda 2030.

¹⁶ See gender discussion at beginning of section 2.  Gender-responsive mechanisms can include laws, policies, plans, strategies or other frameworks or procedures aimed at achieving gender objectives related to women’s participation, voice and influence.  Gender-responsive mechanisms may originate within the water sector or at a higher level, but if they are primarily addressed at a higher level, then there should be evidence of gender mainstreaming within the water sector to achieve scores in this question.  In the baseline survey, national, sub-national, and transboundary levels were addressed in three separate questions.  These questions have been merged into a single question, allowing countries to answer the question at the level which is most relevant in the national context.  The situation at different levels can be explained in the ‘Status description’ cell, as appropriate.

¹⁷ An organizational framework can include a joint body, mechanism, authority, committee, commission or other institutional arrangement.  Refers to international basins/aquifers.

¹⁸ Sub-national can include, but not limited to: provincial, state, county, local government areas, council.  In this case, sub-national should not include basin/aquifer levels as this is dealt with in question 2.2a.  Answer this question for the highest sub-national level(s) that are relevant in the country, and specify what these are.

¹⁹ This question has replaced question 2.2f from the baseline survey, which was for federal countries only.  This is in recognition of the fact that many countries have sub-national authorities for water resources management, even if they are not federal countries.

3. Management Instruments

²⁰ See definition of monitoring in Terminology

²¹ Management instruments include demand management measures (e.g. technical measures, financial incentives, education and awareness raising to reduce water use and/or improve water-use efficiency, conservation, recycling and re-use), monitoring water use (including the ability to disaggregate by sector), mechanisms for allocating water between sectors (including environmental considerations).

²² Includes regulations, water quality guidelines, water quality monitoring, economic tools (e.g. taxes and fees), water quality trading programs, education, consideration of point and non-point (e.g. agricultural) pollution sources, construction and operation of wastewater treatment plants, watershed management.

²³ Water-related ecosystems include rivers, lakes and aquifers, as well as wetlands, forests and mountains.  Management of these systems includes tools such as management plans, the assessment of Environmental Water Requirements (EWR), and protection of areas and species.  Monitoring includes measuring extent and quality of the ecosystems over time.

²⁴ ‘Management instruments’ can cover: understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance; investing in disaster risk reduction; and enhancing disaster preparedness.  ‘Impacts’ include social impacts (such as deaths, missing persons, and number of people affected) and economic impacts (such as economic losses in relation to GDP).  ‘Water-related disasters’ include disasters that can be classified under the following: Hydrological (flood, landslide, wave action); Meteorological (convective storm, extratropical storm, extreme temperature, fog, tropical cyclone); and Climatological (drought, glacial lake outburst, wildfire).

²⁵ Basin and aquifer management: involves managing water at the appropriate hydrological scale, using the surface water basin or aquifer as the unit of management.  This may involve basin and aquifer development, use and protection plans.  It should also promote multi-level cooperation, and address potential conflict among users, stakeholders and levels of government.  To achieve ‘Very high (100)’ basin and aquifer management scores, surface and groundwater management should be integrated.

²⁶ Includes more formal data and information sharing arrangements between users, as well as accessibility for the general public, where appropriate.

4. Financing

²⁷ Allocations of funding for water resources may be included in several budget categories or in different investment documents.  Respondents are thus encouraged to examine different sources for this information.  When assessing the allocations respondents should take account of funds from government budgets and any co-funding (loans or grants) from other sources such as banks or donors.

²⁸ Infrastructure includes ‘hard’ structures such as dams, canals, pumping stations, flood control, treatment works etc., as well as ‘soft’ infrastructure and environmental measures such as catchment management, sustainable drainage systems etc.  For this survey do not include infrastructure for drinking water supply or sanitation services. Budgets should cover initial investments and recurrent costs of operation and maintenance.

²⁹ ‘IWRM elements’ refers to all the activities described in sections 1, 2 and 3 of this survey that require funding, e.g. policy, law making and planning, institutional strengthening, coordination, stakeholder participation, capacity building, and management instruments such as research and studies, gender and environmental assessments, data collection, monitoring etc.

³⁰ Infrastructure includes ‘hard’ structures such as dams, canals, pumping stations, flood control, treatment works etc., as well as ‘soft’ infrastructure and environmental measures such as catchment management, sustainable drainage systems etc.  For this survey do not include infrastructure for drinking water supply or sanitation services. Budgets should cover initial investments and recurrent costs of operation and maintenance.

³¹ For ‘IWRM elements’, see above footnote. Level: revenues are likely to be raised from users at the local, basin, or aquifer levels, though may also be raised at other sub-national or national levels (please indicate which level(s) in the status description).  Revenue raising can occur through public authorities or private sector, e.g. through fees, charges, levies, taxes and ‘blended financing’ approaches.  E.g. dedicated charges/levies on water users (including household level if revenues are spent on IWRM elements); abstraction & bulk water charges; discharge fees; environmental fees such as pollution charges, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes; and the sale of secondary products and services.

³² In this question “Member States (MS)” refers to riparian countries that are parties to the arrangement.  “Contributions” refers to the annual share of funds agreed from MS national budgets to support the agreed TB cooperation arrangement.  Regular funds obtained from for example, water user fees (e.g. hydropower charges) and polluter-pays fees based on existing regulation are also considered as sustainable funding.  As variable and unsustainable, donor support should not be considered in the scoring, but may be referred to in the ‘Status description’ and ‘Way forward’ fields.

³³ ‘IWRM elements’ refers to all the activities described in sections 1, 2 and 3 of this survey that require funding, e.g. policy, law making and planning, institutional strengthening, coordination, stakeholder participation, capacity building, and management instruments such as research and studies, gender and environmental assessments, data collection, monitoring etc.  This question has been added since the baseline survey, acknowledging the importance of funding being available at more ‘operational’ levels.

IWRM Scoring details as follows:

Very high 91-100: Vast majority of IWRM elements fully implemented and objectives consistently achieved.
High 71-90: Objectives of programmes generally met, stakeholder engagement generally good.
Medium-high 51-70: Capacity to implement IWRM elements under long-term programmes generally adequate.
Medium-low 31-50: Elements of IWRM generally institutionalized, and implementation underway.
Low 11-30: Implementation of some elements of IWRM begun, but potentially low stakeholder engagement.
Very low 0-10: Development of IWRM elements generally not begun, or stalled.

SDG 6.5.2 Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation is reported by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

SDG 6.6.1 Change in the extent of water related ecosystems over time tracks changes to water-related ecosystems (lakes, rivers, wetlands, groundwater) over time.  Designated as an indicator by the Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDG’s, the indicator incorporates satellite-based earth observations data.  Data is validated by the EPA against their own methodologies and datasets.

Water Policies

SDG 6.a.1 Amount of water and sanitation related official development assistance that is part of a government coordinated spending plan is reported by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

SDG 6.b.1 Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management information is from the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO).  

Additional Information

Ireland's Population Distribution

For reference the population per county is based on the Census of Population 2016 data as follows:

Regions

Eight Regional Authorities (NUTS3)
Border – Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo
Midland – Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath
West – Galway, Mayo, Roscommon
Dublin – Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin
Mid-East – Kildare, Louth, Meath, Wicklow
Mid-West – Clare, Limerick, Tipperary
South-East – Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford
South-West – Cork, Kerry

Three Regions (NUTS2)
Northern & Western - Border and West Regions
Southern - Mid-West, South-East and South-West Regions
Eastern & Midland - Dublin, Mid-East and Midland Regions

Acronyms
DAFM	Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
DBEI	Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation
DCYA	Department of Children and Youth Affairs
DECC	Department of Environment, Climate and Communications
DCHG	Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
DEFENCE	Department of Defence
DE	Department of Education
DEASP	Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
DFIN	Department of Finance
DFAT	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
DoH	Department of Health
DHPLG	Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government
DJE	Department of Justice and Equality
OPW	Office of Public Works
DPER	Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
REVENUE	Department of Revenue Commissioners
DRCD	Department of Rural and Community Development
DTTAS	Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Tier Classification for Global UN SDG Indicators

All indicators data are classified by the IAEG-SDGs into three tiers based on their level of methodological development and the availability of data at the global level.

Tier Classification Criteria/Definitions:
Tier 1: Indicator is conceptually clear, has an internationally established methodology and standards are available, and data are regularly produced by countries for at least 50 per cent of countries and of the population in every region where the indicator is relevant.
Tier 2: Indicator is conceptually clear, has an internationally established methodology and standards are available, but data are not regularly produced by countries.
Tier 3: No internationally established methodology or standards are yet available for the indicator, but methodology/standards are being (or will be) developed or tested.