The Fresh Water Task Force (FWTF) are concerned that River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) launched today (21st January 2010) by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) will not be sufficient to protect our local freshwater environment. The FWTF cites inadequate levels of new action for ensuring required improvement and a lack of committed resources to implement the plans among the problems. This means that almost 40% of inland and coastal waters are set to fail to meet EU water quality targets by 2015.
Currently, less than 30% of freshwater bodies in Northern Ireland achieve the standards set by the EU for 2015. Final Plans (launched today, 21st January) by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the authority with key responsibility for implementing the European Water Framework Directive in Northern Ireland, still show no clear route to meeting targets in six years, risking large infraction fines for the Northern Ireland public purse. The RBMPs are a key part of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
“Whilst we welcome the improvements made to the Plans following public consultation, we still feel the plans are missing key elements of work required by the Directive including programmes for achieving favourable conservation status for water-dependent Protected Areas such as Lough Neagh”, said Claire Cockerill, Fresh Water Task Force Co-ordinator, “Without such elements, we believe the plans are fundamentally flawed.”
NI FWTF fear that the plans are lacking in ambition to achieve the improvements necessary for water quality. For example, the plans outline that 71% of water bodies within the Lough Neagh area will fail to meet European standards by 2015. As the largest lake in the British Isles which supplies 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water, such weak ambition will cost Northern Ireland in terms of water treatment processes, tourism and wildlife.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has held public information days and has corresponded with stakeholder groups at local levels as part of the required WFD public participation exercise. However, the Plans are general and it will be hard for people to find background information about their local river, lake or coastal area and how they can improve local water conditions.
The FWTF lobbied for twenty-six local area river plans to allow for the right level of detailed decisions to be made on a local level. NIEA are currently developing these but require real public engagement so local solutions are found to local problems with input from local people. WWF Northern Ireland, RSPB, Ballinderry River Enhancement Association and the Ulster Angling Federation therefore recently launched a new campaign called Our Rivers NI to help engage local knowledge and provide input into these local plans. People can adopt their local river on this website and upload their comments which will be sent directly to NIEA. This is a chance for people to give their opinion of the local river plans and suggest their own personal remedies for helping to manage their local river’s water quality.
People can use Water Pollution Test Kits to test the water quality for themselves before inputting their information to the website. Water Pollution Test Kits are available here.
WWF Northern Ireland has demonstrated public engagement in river management through their community led project for the Ballinderry River in Co. Tyrone. The RIPPLE project (Rivers Involving People, Places and Leading by Example) is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and run in partnership with Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd. For more information on the plans here.
Press Release date: 21st January 2010
