Public meeting on Laois water quality
Still waters at the People's Park in Portlaoise. Image: LAWPRO
A COMMUNITY information meeting on water quality in Laois will explore rivers and lakes across a large section of the county.
Covering both the Portlaoise and Graiguecullen-Portarlington municipal districts, the event will focus on local water quality and water-related issues.
Hosted by the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), the public meeting will start at 7pm on Monday 2 March at the Maldron Hotel, Portlaoise.
LAWPRO’s role is to work on behalf of Ireland’s 31 local authorities, including Laois Co Council, to ‘protect and restore good water quality’ in rivers, lakes, estuaries, ground and coastal waters nationwide.
The meeting aims to make more people aware of work to improve water quality and to encourage as much engagement as possible with all stakeholders including key agencies, special interest groups, voluntary, public and private sectors.
The Portlaoise municipal district takes in surrounding areas that include Abbeyleix and Ballinakill, while Graiguecullen-Portarlington covers towns and villages such as Stradbally, Vicarstown, Ballylinan and Ballybrittas.
For the past few years, LAWPRO has been working locally as part of the second cycle River Basin Management Plan for Ireland. At the meeting, LAWPRO experts will outline work that has been carried out in the second cycle and what is being planned for the third cycle Water Action Plan.
There will also be opportunities to ask questions and talk to members of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) and the LAWPRO Farming for Water European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project team.
LAWPRO director of services Anthony Coleman said: “As we are coming to the end of second cycle work in the Portlaoise and Graiguecullen-Portarlington municipal districts and begin implementation of the new Water Action Plan, we would like to take this opportunity to welcome members of the public to come along and find out more about what’s happening in their local waterbodies and river catchments.
“We hope to engage as many people as possible at this meeting in Laois, because public participation and support is key to achieving water quality improvements. We would also like to thank all those, whether in a voluntary or paid capacity, working in their local areas to help make a difference to their natural waters and the biodiversity that lives in and around them.”
All are welcome and people can register for the event on LAWPRO’s Eventbrite page.
