€14,006 willow bed package anchors Waterford water-quality drive

A €14,006 European Innovation Partnership package, approved in October 2024, has funded a 200m willow filter bed on a Co. Waterford dairy farm that drains to one of Ireland's most important freshwater pearl mussel rivers.

Michael Dower farms at Carrigeen, Ring, inside the Licky catchment, a tributary system within the Munster Blackwater catchment. The River Licky supports habitat for the endangered freshwater pearl mussel, a species that survives in fewer than 50 rivers worldwide with internationally important recruiting populations. Even small increases in sediment or nutrient loading can degrade the gravel beds the mussel needs.

Dower's engagement began in 2020, when Teagasc ASSAP adviser Marie Kearney carried out an initial assessment under the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme. Earlier consultations with Cathal Somers of Teagasc had already shaped a plan. The assessment identified the classic risk pathways:

• Runoff from silage slabs and farmyards;
• Drainage connections from working areas, farm roadways and gateways;
• Livestock drinking points along streams;
• Nutrient management and soil fertility planning challenges.

What did the money buy?

The Farming for Water EIP package, built on the principle of the "right measure in the right place", contained several components: the willow filter bed, a nitrogen surplus plan, earthen bunds, rainwater management planning, contractor mobilisation and farmer training.

The willow bed is the centrepiece. Grey water from the yard previously flowed into field drains or spread across a sacrificial paddock. It now runs into a settlement tank and then into the willow bed, where vegetation slows water movement, captures fine sediment and takes up nutrients through evapotranspiration.

"I have always been conscious of water quality in the river and I have been proactive for many years in terms of how I run my farm," Dower said. "Through the EIP, I was able to redirect the grey water from the farmyard into a settlement tank and then into the willow bed."

The growth rate gives a measure of the nutrient load. The willow slips have grown from 9in to 11ft in ten months. "They are soaking up the nutrients contained in the water. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to do," he added.

The land take was small. The bed claimed about 7m into the field along its length, and a blocked drain had already consumed a few metres of that. "When you consider that the field would have been flooded a lot in the past because of the runoff from the drain, I am losing very little ground really," Dower said. A digger spent a few days on site digging the bed.

Storage and nutrient planning

Beyond the EIP measures, Dower invested in additional covered slurry storage during 2024 and 2025, bringing total capacity to 2,073.3m³ — a surplus of almost 193m³ above the calculated requirement. That headroom lets him spread slurry only when weather and soil conditions suit, cutting the risk of nutrient loss.

The farm has also blocked direct yard-drain connections and operates a detailed nutrient management plan that guides fertiliser and slurry applications field by field. The project team stresses that structures such as bunds, sediment traps and filter beds need regular inspection, particularly after heavy rainfall, to keep working as designed.

A catchment-wide effort

Dower is one of nine farmers in the Licky programme, with 79 measures approved by the EIP team across the catchment. "Others in the catchment are playing their part as well and thanks to the EIP and ASSAP programmes it has been possible to implement these measures," he said. "It is a very simple, straightforward process designed by the adviser and I am delighted with the way it has worked out."

The approach has drawn international interest. In August 2026, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences visited the farm alongside representatives of the River Basin Management Service, the Farming for Water EIP team and Teagasc, exchanging knowledge on nature-based solutions and farmer-led catchment management.

Dower's own test comes sooner. "I am looking forward to seeing the difference this winter – that will be the real test," he said. Farmers in pearl mussel catchments should watch how the Licky measures perform through the winter and whether the river holds its trajectory towards good ecological status under the Water Framework Directive.