A three-year project, WaterPro, undertaken by nine main partners from Northern Europe including the Lough Neagh Partnership, has now recently come to a close.

The project which researched practical methods to reduce farming and mining nitrate run off,was part of EU Northern Peripheries Transnational Interreg Programme.  Partners were from the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Northern Ireland.

The project included two recent seminars at Oxford Island were the results of the research was explained to local and national stakeholders who are involved in helping improve water quality.

By coincidence the seminar occurred just as the water quality on Lough as Neagh deemed as having improved from ‘bad’ to ‘poor’, indicating that although this is positive news for the lough, there is still much work to be done.  The Lough Neagh Partnership is now working with over 60 farmers along the shoreline helping them apply and participate in the DAERA Environmental Farm Scheme and is now starting to share this best practice water quality information from the Waterpro programme

Gerry Darby, Strategic Manager at Lough Neagh Partnership, said: “Participation on the Water Pro project has enabled our team to work with some of the leading Northern European countries on water quality, hosting partner conferences in Northern Ireland and attending various working seminars.  It will help us develop new practical tools and models for future good water quality management. Whilst the improvement of water quality on Lough Neagh is not as a direct result of Lough Neagh Partnership’s participation on the project, our involvement in the project has been invaluable.”

Later in this year the Lough Neagh Partnership also hosted a major innovative ecosystem services conference, which again was part of the Waterpro project, focusing on the value of the economic, social and environmental services that are supplied from Oxford Island.

The conference demonstrated the value of the full range of services provided by important landscapes like Oxford Island, from the rich diversity of its wetland habitats and species, to the provision of  quality educational and recreational services.  The monetary benefits of this great natural resource were also identified indicating that the annual economic value of the services provided from Oxford Island were over £2.3 million.

The final seminar in the WaterPro project happened just at the end of May, providing delegates from Lough Neagh Partnership with an opportunity to attend an international conference in Finland, were the final conclusions of the water quality research were presented.

Gerry added: “This three-year European project has brought together like minded partners who otherwise may not have had an opportunity to connect and I am confident that every one of those partners involved will be able to further benefit from the learnings and findings well into the future.”

Lough Neagh Partnership is a non-profit charity made up of representative bodies and stakeholders responsible for the integrated management and protection of the Lough.  It oversees 6 programmes in total including a £3.5 million HLF Landscape Scheme which aims to protect the built, cultural and natural heritage of the Lough.

To find out more, visit: www.discoverloughneagh.com

Lough Neagh Partnership is hosting an international seminar on ‘The Management and Regulation of Water Quality in Lough Neagh’ in partnership with Interreg VB Northern Periphery and Artic Programme, WaterPro Project. The project aims to develop new tools and models to help better manage nitrate run off from farms.

Places are available for this free to attend seminar on Tuesday 27 November which will examine the management and regulation of water quality and agricultural run off into Lough Neagh as part of the exchange of knowledge on the WaterPro Project.

Conor Jordan, the Chairperson of the Lough Neagh Partnership, will chair the seminar, and speaking ahead of the event, he said;

“We all know that the Lough has historically had issues of water quality associated with it.  But through the hard work of the NIEA water quality management group and new practices adopted by farmers since the introduction of the European Nitrates Directive, we are now beginning to see positive changes in the quality of the Lough’s water.  The seminar will look at other best practices being used in Northern Europe and this will also help us continue with the good news water quality trend”

Presentations at the event, in the Discovery Centre at Oxford Island, will focus on the overall Northern Ireland regulation and management of water quality, the past problems with Lough Neagh, the present trends in water quality data and present pilot bioremediation tools to help address the problems at a local farm level. The seminar will also provide an update on the other models and pilot projects attempting to address run off problems from Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland and the Faroes.

Speakers include Mary Toland and Brenda Walker, Northern Ireland Water Management Unit; Bob Foy, retired Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Water Quality Scientist, Chris Johnston, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute WaterPro Partner and Gerry Darby of Lough Neagh Partnership.

The seminar begins at 9.30am with registration and refreshments and ends, following lunch, at 2.00pm.

To confirm your attendance at ‘The Management Regulation of Water Quality in Lough Neagh’ seminar, email Aaron Swann at Lough Neagh Partnership – aaronswann@discoverloughneagh.com.

Order Of the Events

9.30am: Registration, Tea and Coffee

10.00am: Regulation of Water in Northern Ireland and Lough Neagh River Catchment Plan: Mary Toland, Northern Ireland Water Management Unit

10.30am: Past Water Quality Issues and Nitrate Management on Lough Neagh: Bob Foy Retired AFBI Water Quality Scientist

11.00am: Present trends of water quality on Lough Neagh: TBC

12.00 noon: Willow Bioremediation Project: Waterpro Pilot Project in AFBI, Hillsborough: Chris Johnston AFBI Waterpro Partner 

12.30pm: Summary of other Northern European Waterpro Water Quality Pilot Research Projects

1.30pm: Lunch

2.00pm: Seminar Finish 

As the water quality Waterpro project comes to the end of its second year of collaborative working, representatives from Lough Neagh Partnership joined other partners form Northern Europe at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh to reflect on the impact of the project to date and to plan ahead for year three.

Gerry Darby of Lough Neagh Partnership attended and reported that The Waterpro Project continues to make good progress with Heriot Watt University coordinating work and agreeing that a new toolkit comprising new good practice information cards which will now be drawn up by each partner. Savonia University in Finland is taking the lead in developing new templates for the cards. The toolkit aims to provide a good practice information card to the farming community to provide good advice on how to manage nitrate and phosphate run off into our water systems.

The importance of the evaluation of climate change effects in each of the partner countries was also discussed during the partner conference in Edinburgh, with the agreement that each partner should research and develop a short summary of the potential effects of climate change on nutrient run off in their own area. Again, this practical advice will be feed back to the farming stakeholder community and the Lough Neagh Partnership will undertake to develop write up a small paper on the effects of climate change on the Lough and in particular its effect in the Loughs nitrate and phosphate levels.

Gerry reported that partners at Savonia University will also design a web-based selection tool, which will help stakeholders select suitable good practices based on their own nitrate run off circumstances. The toolbox will be produced by February 2019.

Commenting about the value of attending the conference, Gerry said: “Whilst we are all continuing our day to day work the Waterpro project in our own areas, coming together at these round table discussions and conferences are invaluable for partners of the Waterpro project in order to build on the impact that the project has had in the past two years and to proactively plan ahead for the next phase with a joined up approach. The face to face international interaction provides an opportunity to discuss unique partner experiences that conference calls and emails just don’t permit.”

In closing, partners attending the conference updated each other on their pilot projects and Gerry advised that progress on all sites is proceeding well with all site information being fed into the new good practice toolkit and website. Arrangements for a major water quality conference to be held on the shores of Lough Neagh in the Autumn were also agreed.