Key messages

1. Degraded peatlands and forestry are potentially important sources of DOC in freshwater environments.
2. Climate change will likely result in increased concentrations of DOC transfer from land to water with more uncertainty in the nature and timing of export fluxes.
3. Integrated approaches which instantaneously quantify DOC fluxes from land to water at catchment-scale and identify sensitive receptors to increasing freshwater DOC concentrations are urgently needed.
4. If we can understand hydrologically mediated pathways of DOC export the level of catchments, we can design adaptive mitigation strategies to reduce impacts risk on drinking water and sensitive ecological receptors.

Ambitions of C-UISCE

Overall, C-UISCE aims to address a critical lack of baseline DOC data on a catchment level, closing existing knowledge gaps.

This site-specific data is urgently required to better understand the efficiency and efficacy of current and future land use management strategies. C-UISCE will represent the frontier of integrated hydrological research, blending in-situ and ex-situ research to garner holistic insight into the complexities of DOC fluxes in Ireland’s catchments.

The overarching goal is to deliver a high-quality carbon baseline database through multidisciplinary collaboration to produce actionable research outputs which enable scientists, policy makers and land users to effectively manage the aquatic environment and safeguard our national resources from climatic and environmental change.

Objectives and Targets

1. Identify critical knowledge gaps and uncertainties related to DOC transport and its impacts on water quality to guide future research priorities and inform management strategies.
2. Quantify the spatial and temporal variations in DOC concentrations and fluxes within catchments of different dominant land cover and land use.
3. Assess the impact of carbon cycle dynamics, DOC speciation, and physico-chemistry on sensitive ecological and drinking water receptors at sub-catchment scale.
4. Investigate the impacts of water table fluctuations simulating climate change scenarios and water table management, on DOC export across representative soil types using controlled laboratory conditions.
5. Assign baseline organic carbon levels for selected catchments using lake sediment archives to quantify reference DOC levels.
6. Investigate the potential for using DOC as a key parameter for water quality and ecosystem health monitoring at the catchment scale through statistical and mathematical modeling.
7. Communicate research findings and engage with stakeholders, including water resource managers, policymakers, and local communities, to foster understanding and promote informed decision-making regarding DOC and water quality management at the catchment scale.