Public webinars on draft Regional Water Resources Plan - North West begin next week
In November Uisce Éireann began a three-month public consultation on the draft Regional Water Resource Plan - North West (RWRP-NW) in November. As part of the ongoing consultation, public webinars will commence next week, during which communities across the region can hear about Uisce Éireann's plans to supply water to their area over the next 25 years.
The RWRP-NW sets out options for providing a more secure, reliable and sustainable water supply for 732,700 customers in the North West region over the next 25 years. The plan includes counties Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Sligo and parts of Clare, Longford, Louth, Meath and Roscommon. Eight islands off the coast of Ireland are also included in the region.
Uisce Éireann's National Water Resources Plan will be the first resources plan for the entire public water supply in Ireland. The National Plan will identify the needs across our existing supplies and the challenges and opportunities that we face over the coming years including legislation, climate change, the environment, growth and economic development. The National Plan will allow us to understand the actions and activities required to transform our water supplies and provide a safe, secure, reliable, and sustainable water supply for our current and future customers. The National Framework Plan will also provide a transparent roadmap on how Uisce Éireann will plan for its water assets to align with national policy.
Given the scale of the area to be covered, the National Plan is being rolled out in two phases. The National Plan was first adopted in the summer of 2021 and Uisce Éireann has since moved into Phase 2 and is preparing four Regional Water Resources Plans.
The four regions are:
- Regional Water Resources Plan: North West
- Regional Water Resources Plan: South West
- Regional Water Resources Plan: South East
- Regional Water Resources Plan: Eastern and Midlands
Each Regional Plan is subject to its own consultation and, once adopted, all of the Regional Plans and the Framework Plan will be treated as a unified National Plan.
Public consultation on the draft Regional Water Resources Plan North West launched in November and will continue until 21 February 2023.
The draft RWRP-NW describes the North West Region and the current challenges faced now and into the future in terms of delivering a safe, secure and resilient water supply. It identifies progress made to date, for instance through leakage reductions, capital investment works, and works in progress. It applies the methodology as adopted in the Framework Plan to (i) identify the Need across the 119 Water Resource Zones, in terms of quality, quantity, reliability and sustainability of supply, and (ii) identify Plan level solutions to meet this Need across the region.
There are 142 Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in the North West Region, which collectively serve 732,700 people or 18% of the population of Ireland, via approximately 17,732 kilometres of distribution network and 119 Water Resource Zones. These treatment plants also serve 74,000 businesses. The region itself covers approximately 26,912 square kilometres, encompassing counties Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Sligo and parts of Clare, Longford, Louth, Meath and Roscommon. Eight islands off the coast of Ireland are also included in the region.
Speaking ahead of commencement of the public webinars next week, Mairéad Conlon, Regional Water Resources Strategy Lead for Uisce Éireann said, "We want to meet as many people as possible across the north west region over the coming weeks. We will show them our plans to supply water sustainably to their areas. We are looking forward to hearing from them and making sure that our plan is the best fit for the north west region.
"The draft Regional Plan will offer key benefits in terms of transformation of our supplies, including the ability to cater for growth and economic development in a sustainable way, through improved interconnectivity between our supplies to ensure balanced regional development and new sustainable water sources that are adaptable to climate change.
"The draft plan sets out how we envisage water will be supplied to homes and businesses across counties Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Sligo and parts of Clare, Longford, Louth, Meath and Roscommon over the next 25 years. Eight islands off the coast of Ireland are also included in the region. We are holding evening and day-time webinars to try and accommodate people as much as possible," explained Mairéad.
Uisce Éireann is now seeking feedback on the public consultation for the draft RWRP-NW and associated SEA Environmental Report and Natura Impact Statement (NIS). The documents are available to view on the RWRP - North West section of our website.
A 13-week statutory public consultation will run until 21 February 2023.
Submissions can be made by post or email by 21 February 2023 to:
Email: nwrp@water.ie
Post: National Water Resources Plan, Uisce Éireann, PO Box 13216, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
This public consultation is everyone's opportunity to feed into the process of how Uisce Éireann identifies the water supply issues in the region and determines what the options are to provide a more resilient water supply to customers within the region.
Public webinars are being facilitated at the following times:
- Monday 16 January 2023, 7:30 to 9pm
- Wednesday 18 January 2023, 10 to 11:30am
- Tuesday 31 January 2023, 7:30 to 9pm
- Thursday 02 February 2023, 10 to 11:30am
These webinars will provide information on the draft Regional Water Resources Plan - North West and associated environmental reports and allow opportunities to ask questions. If you would like to be part of an online public webinar, you can register your interest on our website.
Uisce Éireann is also seeking feedback on how it will develop options to address any problems identified.
All relevant submissions will be taken into consideration and responses to the issues raised will be summarised in a Consultation Report, which will be published on the National Water Resources Plan section of our website.