Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir has announced the opening of the 2026/2027 call for applications to the Water Quality Improvement Strand of the Environmental Challenge Fund Competition.
The grant is available to not-for-profit organisations and local councils to invest in projects that will deliver improvements in the local water environment, help connect people with the environment and encourage behavioural change.
Projects funded through the scheme are expected to begin in spring 2026 and conclude by February 2027.
The funding will provide support for up to 85% of project costs, with eligible project budgets ranging from £5,000 to £30,000.
Introducing this year’s competition, Minister Muir said: “This strand of NIEA’s Environmental Challenge Fund is delivering on my key priority of improving water quality and has provided £1.2 million in support for groups and volunteers involved in 60 projects including river clean-ups, habitat schemes and catchment interventions over the past six years.
“I encourage eligible organisations to consider submitting an application through this scheme to deliver improvements in their local water environments, including Lough Neagh and its catchment areas.”
Funding outcomes
Project manager at Sea2it, Andrew Bratton explained that the Water Quality Improvement Strand funding has helped his organisation remove 2.7t of material from the River Bann and the River Roe in 2024/2025.
He said: “It has allowed us to provide training for our volunteers on the identification and treatment of invasive species such as giant hogweed, which is another area of environmental concern.”
Aidan Donnelly of Armagh Anglers said that receiving funding from the Water Quality Improvement Strand and working with a range of stakeholders has been critical to their project to reduce invasive weed at Lowry’s Lake.
“Our work will improve the oxygen levels and the movement of water around the lake,” he said.
“We also treat for algae, which improves the water quality on those little feeder streams, in order to get brown trout to repopulate the stream and then to self-sustain in the lake.
“All this requires work around fencing off areas of feeder streams to prevent animals getting in, educating farmers, educating landowners, educating industry in terms of what we put into our water, what we take for granted and what we flush down toilets and drains.”
The closing date for applications for the 2026/2027 Water Quality Improvement Strand of the Environmental Challenge Fund Competition is February 18, 2026.
