Forestry presents pressures to the ecological status of watercourses, with sediment release being a recognised stressor in this regard. This field-based project measures flow change and sediment release at seven forestry sites with adjacent or nearby lotic waterbodies. Study sites reflect a range of soils, topographical and hydrological settings relevant to Irish forestry and the monitoring strategy targets different forestry operations (afforestation, harvesting, windrowing and reforestation). Data is related to levels of deposited sediment in riverbeds and ultimately to changes in hydromorphology and aquatic community health, with sediment fingerprinting being used to disentangle forestry operation impacts on suspended and deposited fine sediments from other catchment pressures. The efficacy and performance of commonly adopted sediment control measures in forests is also assessed. A hydrological model in combination with an appropriate soil loss model will be developed and tested to simulate hydrological and sediment release processes in Irish forestry settings.