River Basin Management Plan Steps, Status and Objectives

STEP 1 - What are our key water issues? STEP 2 - What is the status of our waters STEP 3 - What do we plan to achieve? STEP 4 - What actions must we take? STEP 5 - What will basic measures achieve? STEP 6 - What further actions can we take? STEP 7 - What will supplementary measures achieve? STEP 8 - Our objectives in the South Eastern District STEP 9 - Our plan for the South Eastern District Overview of Plan Steps

Biological elements Macroinvertebrates; Q value system Phytobenthos; DARES (diatom assessment of river ecological status) Macrophytes; not be included as classification tool not finalised Fish; results for 500 sites & CFB expert opinion Supporting elements Physico-chemical data; data from Local Authorities/EPA and Roscommon lab Hydromorphology; Results of RAT (Rapid assessment technique) surveys Relevant (specific) pollutants; 2007 data from surveillance sites from the EPA e.g. zinc, copper, arsenic, boron Ecological Status

Chemical elements Priority action substances (33 substances from the Priority Substances Directive plus 8 other substances) 2007 data from surveillance sites from the EPA E.g. lead, mercury, benzene, atrazine will be either pass or fail depending on whether they pass the EQSs which have been proposed by the European Commission Chemical Status

National River Ecological Status Statistics & Map Number % by number High Good Moderate Poor Bad n/a Total

Number % by number High203.1 Good Moderate Poor Bad50.8 Total SERBD River Ecological Status Statistics & Map

Status Carlow WexfordKilkennyWat CityWat CountyS TipperaryN Tipperary StatusNo. % No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No. High Good Moderate Poor Bad No status LaoisKildareOffalyWicklowLim CityLim CountyCork StatusNo.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No.No.% No. High Good Moderate Poor Bad No status

Enable protected areas to achieve their stricter status standards Drinking Water Abstractions Economically significant species (shellfish) Recreational and bathing waters Nutrient sensitive areas (nitrates & UWWTD sensitive areas) Protected habitats and species (Freshwater Pearl Mussel) Measures must achieve these objectives in all protected area cases by 2015 (no derogations) Objective 1

Prevent deterioration, and in particular maintain high or good status Provided that WFD objectives are reflected in linked plans and programmes (particularly development and land-use plans) this should provide protection against deterioration in status in all cases Objective 2

Improve waters where appropriate to achieve at least good standards Supplementary measures will need to be considered for our key water pressures to restore status Objective 3

Progressively reduce chemical pollution Objective 4

Objectives for Groundwater: To achieve good chemical and quantitative status and ensure no deterioration of status (status objectives) To “prevent or limit” the input of pollutants To reverse any significant and sustained upward trends in pollutants Groundwater Objectives

Water Balance Tests Saline Intrusion Abstraction Dependent SW & Habitats

Water Quality Tests General Chemical

Contaminated Lands & Mines

Surface Water/Groundwater Interactions