Luke Drea, LAWPRO Senior Community Water Officer in the Western region, addressing the members of the Galway Bay South East Community Catchment Forum.
A NEW pilot river catchment programme has been launched in Loughrea.
Last month, the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) launched the new Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum at an inaugural at Comworks in Loughrea.
It is one of five pilot river catchment projects across Ireland, established under the new River Basin Management Plan to support public participation. The meeting was follow-on from previous scoping meetings to figure out the most suitable format for communities around Galway Bay to deliver better water quality.
Representatives from Cuan Beo, Irish Farmers Association, Abhainn Dá Loilíoch Woodland Group, Oyster Country Heritage Group, Burren Action Group, Gort River Walk, Talamh Beo, CELT, Atlantic Technological University Galway, and Bord Iascaigh Mhar form part of the Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum.
Other members include representatives from local community groups, agriculture, angling and recreational interests. Further applicants from north of the catchment and the forestry sector are still welcome.
John Kelly and Aisha Phillips, a local farmer and member of Loughrea Tidy Towns respectively were elected as Co-Chairs of the forum. LAWPRO will continue to provide secretariat support to the forum as agreed in the initial scoping meetings.
Actions agreed for the group going forward include working on catchment scale projects, promoting local public awareness and understanding of water quality issues, and developing greater collaboration and cooperation across the Galway Bay South East Catchment. Their next meeting has been scheduled for early 2026.
Luke Drea, Senior Community Water Officer for LAWPRO in the Western region explained: “The purpose of the Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum is to identify what the members, assisted by LAWPRO, see as the priorities for the catchment and then to develop a plan of action to address these issues”.
In a joint statement, the Co-Chairs stated, “The Galway Bay South East Catchment is a diverse and unique catchment that extends from the Slieve Aughty mountains in the East to Galway Bay in the West. The water that connects these and the communities that it flows through need to be protected and restored. The Galway South East Catchment Community Forum is about bringing together communities with an interest in improving and protecting water quality in the catchment, and giving them a strong voice in how it is looked after into the future”.
For more information about the Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum and LAWPRO’s work, contact Janet Laffey, LAWPRO Community Water Officer covering East Galway and Roscommon at jlaffey@lawaters.ie.
