Almost €21 million in funding is to be allocated to three projects focussing on a cross-border collaborative approach to the management and improvement of water quality.
The PEACEPLUS funding will contribute to helping freshwater bodies in cross-border river basins to achieve good or high quality.
PEACEPLUS is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and represents a funding partnership between the European Union, the Irish and British governments, and the Northern Ireland Executive.
Water quality
The projects will enable pilots for nature-based solutions to restore catchments, including implementation of necessary conservation measures, water management measures to reduce runoff, nutrient loss and co-benefits relating to pesticide losses to waterways and to reduce impacts from flooding.
€7.5 million is earmarked for the Protecting Shared Waters Project, which will be led by Northern Ireland Water.
This project will be informed by scientific research and practical experience and contribute to improved water quality and benefit the drinking water supply population in the Strule and Fane (Nenagh-Bann) catchments.
It will also involve restoration of peatland in the Murrins, Glenhordial and Glencurry catchments through targeted conservation measures.
The project will see the installation of an upgraded fish pass at Lough Muckno Weir.
€8.2 million in funding will be made available to the CALM project, led by East Border Region.
This initiative will enhance water quality and ecosystem health in cross-border river catchments including Lough Moor, Lagan, Ballymartrim, Upper Sillees, Termon, Monaghan Blackwater, Glyde, Quiggery, Finn Tributaries, Rooting Burn and Lough Navar.
One dimension of CALM will be the conversion of slurry into biomethane and digestate for fertiliser.
The project has an extensive outreach education and awareness programme, which will engage farmers, schoolchildren and community organisations.
The FLOW project, led by the Irish Central Border Area Network, has been awarded €5.1 million.
This project will address the declining water quality in target catchment areas attributable to agricultural pressures and wastewater discharge.
It will result in a solution designed to engage communities and make an active contribution to improved water quality in four cross-border water catchments: Lough Melvin, Upper and Lower Lough MacNean, Cladagh River and the Kilroosky Lake Cluster.
The project will also result in the installation of an innovative pilot waste water treatment facility in Rossinver, County Leitrim.
Projects
Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said:
“As we know, water does not recognise borders and it is only through sustained collaboration and partnership working that we will realise improvements in water quality.
The three projects are great examples of the work that can be delivered when organisations come together for the greater good.
“They will deliver for our farmers and our communities at a local level here in Northern Ireland and in Ireland as well as piloting an innovative wastewater solution and manure management to produce bioenergy all to deliver nutrient reductions.”
Minister of Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne also stated that “water knows no borders”.
“Cooperation is vital to ensure the protection and improvement of water quality in the region.
“The shared approach of these three PEACEPLUS-funded projects embodies what is needed to improve water quality in a sustainable manner.
“It involves the whole community, from the local authorities to the farming sector, to those in the wider community and schoolchildren,” he said.
Gina McIntyre, chief executive of the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), added: “Strategic cross-border investment can only enhance and protect the environment while strengthening the economy.
“A truly collaborative approach to the management and improvement of water quality in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland is key, so community awareness and education are essential to ensure that everyone can play their part in protecting our environment.”
