Ennell catchment plan aims to manage it for future generations
An innovative and ambitious plan for managing the Lough Ennell catchment was launched at a community workshop in Bloomfield House Hotel at the end of January. Lough Ennell Catchment Management Plan (LECMP) is the result of more than years of partnership involving Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association (LETPA), Westmeath County Council, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Teagasc, the Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO), landowners, community and others.
Alan Lauder Consulting facilitated community surveys, water quality assessments, ecological surveys, community workshops and more to establish a joint vision that people could sign up to.
“It’s a great achievement,” said Theresa Geoghegan from Westmeath Community Development, who encouraged the application to the Leader fund that made the endeavour possible. “Carla and David from LETPA showed a passion for water quality and improving the lake that was evident from day one, and we’re delighted to support development of this plan.”
A catchment visioning event in 2022 created the long-term common goal to protect and enhance the amenity that is Lough Ennell and sustainably manage it so that future generations can benefit from a healthy lake catchment.
That vision has now been captured in an integrated catchment plan with these four aims:
1. Protection and enhancement of water quality and ecological health through reduced impacts of point source and diffuse source pollution and better management of natural habitats
2. Enhanced socio-economic potential through an improving fishery, enhanced recreation and tourism opportunities and increases sustainability of agriculture
3. Meaningful engagement of community in sustainable management of the lake catchment
4. A better understanding of the processes and issues that affect water quality, ecosystems and other key factors
The LECMP has 38 actions in six themed delivery groups to address: 1. Water quality and water resources; 2. Land use; 3. Rivers and fish; 4. Biodiversity and climate response; 5. Communities, tourism, heritage and education; and 6. Project functions and cross-cutting actions.
The Lough Ennell Water Catchment Management Plan has been supported by the Westmeath Local Community Development Committee and the EU Recovery Instrument Funding under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2022. Additional funding support was provided by Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO).
Lough Ennell has a catchment that encompasses agricultural and urban areas, includes an SAC and SPA, and supports a wide range of socio-economic benefits for the community, including as a designated bathing water.
Despite water quality improvements since the 1970s, the lake remains vulnerable to nutrient and pathogen pollution, habitat change, climate change and other human pressures. The catchment management plan seeks to address the pressures on the lake and its catchment, to make it more resilient in future, preventing decline, and restoring and protecting its ecological status to at least ‘Good’, and better, where possible in the longer term. The plan is based on the potential for collaborative and cooperative working of stakeholders with an interest in the lake.
Ten objectives seek to address specific issues identified by the plan:
1. To protect and enhance WFD ecological status of all water bodies in the catchment within life of the plan
2. To reduce the transfer of nutrients and pathogens from point source pollution
3. To reduce the transfer of nutrients and pathogens from diffuse source pollution
4. To enhance the condition of wetland habitats in the catchment
5. To promote the favourable conservation status of fish populations of the Lough Ennell catchment 6. To maintain or enhance the conservation condition of the European sites (SAC and SPA)
7. To enhance the role of the Lough Ennell catchment in climate and biodiversity emergency response 8. To enhance the tourism, amenity and recreational value of Lough Ennell
9. To enhance the meaningful engagement of the community in the protection and management of Lough Ennell
10. Ensure the LECMP is appropriately managed and resourced.
Thirty eight actions are identified and indicative timescales are provided in the plan; they include the establishment of a project partnership and a project officer.
• Lough Ennell Water Catchment Management Plan has been supported by Westmeath Local Community Development Committee and the EU Recovery Instrument Funding under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2022.