Development of Water Trail Criteria

The Challenge

To:

• review all current water trail criteria in the Republic of Ireland
• draw on critical success factors of international best practice
• develop a new water trail criteria for the Republic of Ireland
• develop a methodology for the assessment and scoring of developed water trails to determine if they adequately meet the criteria

The criteria must address the various types of non-motorised water trails including paddling, snorkeling (underwater) trails and any other water trails that may be identified during the review e.g. dinghy / sailing etc.

It is anticipated that the water trail criteria document will be structured similarly to the recently developed ‘Walking Trails Criteria for Ireland’ with sections as follows:

• Landowner agreement
• Water trail experience
• Water trail infrastructure
• Water trail management
• Safety
• Environment