Project Page Views: [ 776 ]
| Project Metadata Element | Details |
| Project Title | Smart Coasts - Sustainable Communities (SCSC) |
| Research Area | Water |
| Project Acronym | SCSC |
| Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Bartholomew Masterson |
| Lead Institution or Organisation | University College Dublin (UCD) |
| Lead Country | Ireland |
| Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 53.30859, -6.22577 |
| Lead Funding Entity | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Approximate Project Start Date | 01/07/2010 |
| Approximate Project Finishing Date | 30/06/2013 |
| Project Website (if any) | |
| Links to other Web-based resources | |
| Project Keywords | Bathing Waters; Health; Real-time management; Blue-Flag Beach |
| Project Abstract | The policy driver is the compliance of bathing waters with new EU standards and public health protection (i.e. the responsibility of the Swansea Council Stakeholder thus, to protect health and maintain high levels of Blue Flag beaches. Simple numerical compliance with new standards is the EU regulatory requirement on Member States. However, they have the option to use real-time prediction to manage their bathing waters. The EA Stakeholder has calculated that 74 Welsh beaches could achieve an excellent standard with the predictive approach, we will supply, but only 43 without this (Ireland 115 with 95 without). DEFRA estimates UK-wide cost savings using the real-time management of 1.4B. NB: the new predictive approach is NOT a regulatory requirement and NOT currently possible because Ireland and Wales do not have the tools for its implementation. This project will provide such tools. The proposal builds on past work by the academic partners in the SMART Interreg IIIA project. The outputs will comprise an array of modelling and data analysis tools needed to apply the real-time management approach to beaches across the EU. Spin-off benefits for aquaculture in the near-shore zone will also be delivered as the project provides tools for microbial source apportionment, modelling and budgeting. |