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Consultation To Be Held On Future Management Of Clare’s Water

A public consultation on the long run management and protection of County Clare’s inland and coastal waterways will take place at 8pm in the West County Hotel, Ennis on Tuesday 9th October 2021. The consultation follows on from the introduction of latest legislation requiring that local authorities within the Shannon International river basin District (IRBD) devise a management plan for the whole of the Shannon river basin by 2022.

95% of County Clare’s waters are included within the Shannon International basin District with the remaining 5% in the Western River Basin District, which may also be the subject of a public consultation in Ballyvaughan this November. there will be two public consultation periods before the final management plans are in place.

Mayor of Clare, Councillor Patricia McCarthy is encouraging members of the overall public to participate in the consultation workshops.

“Water could also be a fragile resource that needs to be protected. this is often often an ideal opportunity for people voice your views on how best to manage this important resource”, she stated.

The first consultation period relates to the key management issues, which affect the water within the Shannon district. a replacement booklet called ‘Water Matters’ sets out these issues during a very easy-to-read manner and explains how they affect water quality, what controls are in place to deal with these issues and if they are adequate to meet the required standards. The second consultation period will happen get on the draft River Basin Management Plan after it is published in 2022.

Speaking at the launch of the Water Matters book let the newly-elected Chair of the Shannon IRBD Advisory Council, Cllr. Albert Higgins said, “For too long it has been somebody else’s responsibility but now our Governments here and throughout the European Union have handed us all a way to get involved and have a say into what the problems are and what actions should be taken to put things right.”

The ‘Water Matters’ booklet is out there to download free from http://www.clarecoco.ie/Environment/River_Basin.html. The consultation period last until 22nd December 2021 and each one comments received will feed into the draft management plan for the Shannon basin.

The Shannon basin District Advisory Council was established under S.I. No. 722 of 2003 (and as amended by SI 413 of 2022) to give some thought to matters relating to the preparation of river basin management plans and other matters relevant to the protection and use of the aquatic environment and water resources in the river basin district and to advise and make recommendations on these matters to the relevant public authorities. Membership consists of two elected members from each of the constituent local authorities within the RBD, and sort of co-opted members from various sectoral interest groups.

The Shannon International basin District (IRBD) includes large areas of counties Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford and Roscommon also as significant portions of counties Kerry, Galway, Leitrim and Cavan. Other counties that have smaller portions within the Shannon District include Sligo, Mayo, Cork, Laois, Meath and Fermanagh, while all of Limerick City is found within it.

The local authorities within the Shannon IRBD are: Cavan, Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, North Tipperary, South Tipperary, and Westmeath County Councils, and Limerick council .

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