Inaction ‘not an option’

Rural Water News Spring 2007
Consulting on the plan
River Basin District meetings re the Water Framework Directive
The first stage of implementing
the Water
Framework Directive has
been about finding out the
facts — in detail. That has
meant setting out:
• all the waters in each district.
This includes both
surface waters — rivers,
lakes, canals, reservoirs,
estuaries and coastal waters
— and groundwaters and
the lands that drain into
them;
• all human uses of those
waters and human activities
that affect them. That
covers everything from the
provision of drinking
water, through industrial
and agricultural discharges
to the construction of quay
walls and harbours;
• all non-human uses: not
just those animals and
plants that live in the
waters, but also those on
the fringes. Some important
and vulnerable species
and habitats need particular
attention;
• all existing controls on
human uses of water – this
includes everything from
EU Directives, through
national legislation and
industry codes of practice,
to conditions on planning
permissions;
• all threats to the quality of
the waters, ranked in order
of importance.
This work started several
years ago and last summer, a
summary of the significant
water management issues that
put our waters at risk of not
meeting the requirements of
the WFD was published in a
booklet titled ‘Water
Matters’. This was distributed
in all river basin districts.
In the second instalment of his article on preparations
for the Water Framework Directive, Enda
Thompson, Co-ordinator of the Shannon
International River Basin District evaluates the
consultation process upon which river basin district
plans are currently being formulated.
Having your say
Last autumn, we came to the
end of a six month formal
consultation period on the
‘Water Matters’ booklet,
where the public were invited
to comment on the issues
identified in their RBD.
A series of evening public
events were held throughout
the country, organised at
River Basin District (RBD)
level as part of the process of
getting the public involved.
The events were generally
kept informal, with a number
of tables staffed by members
of the project team and local
authorities.
Shannon
The Shannon IRBD is the
largest river basin district in
all of Ireland, stretching from
the source of the Shannon
river in the Cuilcagh mountains
to the tip of the Dingle
peninsula in north Kerry.
This is an international
river basin district (IRBD) by
virtue of the fact that a small
portion of the catchment is in
County Fermanagh.
Across the IRBD, seven
consultation events were held
in October last, at Carrick-on-
Shannon (Leitrim), Mountnugent
(Cavan), Athlone
(Westmeath), Nenagh
(Tipperary), Ennis (Clare),
Limerick city and Tralee
(Kerry).
Attendance varied widely,
ranging from just 10 people
at the Tralee meeting to
almost 60 in Athlone, with a
total of about 150 for all
events in the Shannon IRBD.
Although attendance was
small, the exercise proved
valuable, as there was some
really good input into the
process. Even where there
was cynicism with regard to
the proposed role of the regulatory
authorities, there was
general acceptance of the
logic of the process.
The need to ‘think outside
the box’ and to consider alternative
technologies, while at
the same time applying environmental
economics to the
situation (such as incentives
for use of sustainable, ecofriendly
products and increasing
taxes on non eco-friendly
products), was expressed.
Draft plans
Following on from the consultation
process, draft management
plans are currently
being drawn up for each
RBD. Comments received as
part of last autumn’s consultation
process will feed into
the draft plans, and a further
process of consultation will
follow their publication.
Real value of water
One clear message emerged
from the consultation
process: huge financial and
resource issues are involved
in bringing our waters up to
standard, whether that be in a
local river or the kitchen tap.
By its very nature then, this
process will increase public
understanding in relation to
the ‘real value’ of water.
The Shannon IRBD is Ireland’s largest river basin district.
32