Castlebar meeting on works to improve water quality

A public meeting is taking place with a view to making people aware of the work being undertaken to improve water quality in the Castlebar area.

The community information meeting takes place on Tuesday, June 30 at the Ellison Hotel. The event runs from 7pm to 6.30pm The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), working on behalf of Ireland’s 31 local authorities to protect and restore good water quality in rivers, lakes, estuaries, ground and coastal water, is holding a community information meeting about water quality and water related issues in the Castlebar Municipal District.

Under Ireland’s Water Action Plan, formerly the River Basin Management Plan, LAWPRO works in areas where water quality requires protection or restoration. LAWPRO collaborates with other stakeholders in these areas, which are called Priority Areas for Action (PAAs), to implement targeted water quality improvements.

The meeting aims to make more people aware of work to improve water quality in the Castlebar Municipal District and to encourage as much engagement as possible with all stakeholders right across the community, including key agencies, special interest groups, voluntary, public and private sectors.

There will also be opportunities for the public to ask questions and talk to members of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP).

Ahead of the public meeting, Anthony Coleman, Director of Services with LAWPRO said: “As we are coming to the end of second cycle work in the Castlebar Municipal District area and begin implementation of the new Water Action Plan we would like to take this opportunity to welcome members of the public to come along and find out more about what’s happening in their local waterbodies and river catchments.   We hope to engage as many people as possible at this meeting in Castlebar because public participation and support is key to achieving water quality improvements. We would also like to thank all those, whether in a voluntary or paid capacity, working in their local areas to help make a difference to their natural waters and the biodiversity that live in and around them.”