Members of the public are set to meet in Tipperary next month to discuss the water quality in rivers across the county.

Events on Tuesday 01 March and Thursday 03 will see locals consider the draft River Basin Management Plan (2022-2027), which sets out environmental objectives to protect and restore rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters together with the actions and measures required to ensure those objectives are achieved.

The two online public consultation meetings offer an opportunity for local people to input into this draft plan, to make a submission and to get involved in helping to protect and restore local water bodies.

Good water quality in our natural water bodies is a precious resource. The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) works to promote a healthy water environment. It does so by identifying water quality issues and seeks ways to improve them. The EPA assessment of river water quality in 2019 and 2020 indicates some recovery in water quality, with more rivers showing improvements (345) than declines (230). Water quality analysis indicates that agriculture, hydromorphology (or physical changes to habitat conditions and water flow) together with forestry and urban waste water are the main pressures on water quality.

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The work of LAWPRO forms part of a new and collaborative approach engaging all stakeholders, specifically at a local level, to protect and improve water quality. Over recent years, Ireland has made substantial progress in how we manage our water services and how we work collaboratively to improve water quality. Despite this water quality is still in decline. Healthy and well protected river catchments are vital for people, nature and our economy. Clean water is vital for protecting public health, supporting economic growth and preserving our natural water bodies. In turn, clean water support habitats, biodiversity and ecosystem which depend on water, which in turn support all of us in the face of a climate and biodiversity emergency.

LAWPRO encourages local people to get involved in the management of their local water bodies, to have your say and get involved. The two meetings in County Tipperary will focus on different municipal districts. The meeting of Tuesday 01 March will focus on the Nenagh and Thurles municipal districts. The meeting will cover the following catchments Lower Shannon, Lough Derg, Nore and Suir. The meeting on Thursday evening, 03 March, will focus on the Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel-Tipperary municipal districts and will cover the Suir catchment.