Water quality meeting puts focus on Ennell

There was lively interaction from the audience at a community information meeting on water quality held in Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar, last week.

The hotel overlooks Lough Ennell and much of the discussion focused on the lake.

Linda Heerey of the Local Authority Waters Programme science team revealed that there are no high-quality waterways in this area. Eight priority areas for action have been identified and Lough Ennell is one of them.

The meeting was told that agriculture is the main source of pressure on water quality, and that €50 million had been provided under the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme to help farmers improve water quality.

David Webster of ASSAP was present to advise.

It was revealed that €17,500 had been allocated to Community Water Development projects in Westmeath this year. Also, under LAWPRO’s small grants scheme, Multyfarnham Tidy Towns received €4,000 for a nature-based systems project, Mullingar Shamrocks GAA received €5,800 for watercourse protection measures, and Athlone Canal Heritage Group received €5,000.

Ambrose Walsh, senior engineer with Westmeath County Council’s Environment and Climate Action section, said they have designed a nature-based approach to water quality and, while progress could be quicker, they are getting there.

He said he was from Mullingar, had a personal and professional interest in Lough Ennell, and was open to any suggestions from the community. He assured the meeting that the council was working with Uisce Éireann to protect its water quality.

Carla McNeil of the Lough Ennell Catchment Association was assured that LAWPRO looks at every discharge into the River Brosna, if there is a problem.

Louis Peppard from Lilliput criticised Westmeath County Council for not doing a Sustainable Drainage Scheme as part of the Village Enhancement Scheme carried out in Castletown Geoghegan.

He claimed that runoff of slurry from tractor tyres is flowing into two streams in the area.

Mr Peppard also complained that “not a penny had been spent in 20 years” on the treatment plant in Collinstown. It is polluting the rivers and it is going to be after 2030 before funding is available, he maintained.

Paul Rowan asked if there was any agency looking at the effects of feral mink on the fish and bird life of the waterways. He said they are increasing at an alarming rate and, while it is a problem everywhere, the National Parks and Wildlife Service can only concentrate on the islands of Lough Ree.

Basil Mannion, senior manager with LAWPRO, said that was something they could take into consideration when doing their river walks, and it could be discussed with the Inland Fisheries and the NPWS.

Michael Newman from Rahugh, a former member of Westmeath County Council, described himself as having “only 42 years’ experience of water management drainage and I have been retired for 20 years”.

He maintained that the solution to all water pollution was twofold: firstly, land drainage, getting water at least five feet below grass roots level, generally naturally, and secondly, ensuring all waterways have a little trench, it doesn’t have to be 10 foot deep, if it was 10 inches deep, create an 8-inch barrier and nothing flows off the land”.

He was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” to say that “our glorious department’s solution was to put up a single strand of electric fence and that will prevent pollution”.

“In the name of God, what idiot thought that? The idea was to stop the cattle going in, but the slurry wasn’t concerned with a strand of electric wire, it just flowed along the surface and went in. The solution is to interrupt the flow of water; even in a flat field, if it rains it will run along towards the river,” he said.

Mr Mannion said there was no one solution – “we base our work on the right measure in the right place at the right time”.

He suggested that Mr Newman talk to Mr Webster of ASSAP as “he has a list of measures along the lines you are talking about, to cut off the interface between the pollution and the water body”.

Milo Breslin from Ballinalack asked what body governs the sluice gates on the small outlets from Lough Owel to Lough Iron. He said he heard from two sources that when the lake was high, some of the timbers were taken out.

He was told that that would be a matter for Inland Waterways.

The gathering then broke for refreshments and a chance for those present to talk to the professionals.