The Water Forum welcomes the inclusion of its recommendations in the third River Basin Management Plan, but urgent implementation of this Water Action Plan is essential to achieve outcomes.
The Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage published Ireland’s 3rd River Basin Management Plan today. The Water Action Plan sets out the actions planned for implementation between now and the end of 2027. With only 52% of rivers; 48% of lakes and 63% of coastal waterbodies currently reaching the required water quality standard set by EU and national law, immediate and comprehensive action is essential to deliver this Plan and achieve improvements.
At the Plan launch, Dr Matt Crowe, Chair of the National Water Forum stated ‘a Plan is only as good as its implementation. The hard work begins now to reverse declining trends in water quality so that rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwaters achieve the highest possible quality and are protected from the many human induced pressures that damage our precious waters’. He added that ‘well protected good quality water is a fundamental economic, social, environmental and cultural foundation for an Ireland that wants to be seen by the wider world as a clean and green country’.
The plan is available at:
gov – River Basin Management Plan (www.gov.ie)
Water-Forum-Response-to-RBMP-Water-Action-Plan-050924-final-1.pdf (thewaterforum.ie)
