Mayo Communities -Caring for Water

Please find below details of next weekend’s field trips Sat/Sun 4/6 December from 9:30 to 14:00. In the afternoon 14:00 to 16:00 Ken and I would be pleased to visit areas of  particular areas of interest in the catchment or neighbouring catchments, which participants would like us to visit and have us comment on.

On Saturday we will visit Kiltimagh starting with the Pollagh river and then Kilkelly to the Trimoge River and if time permits to Urlaur Lough. On Sunday we will visit Straide, The Gweestion River and Lough Cullen. In the case of rivers, access for sampling may be flow-dependent if we get significant rainfall before the weekend. In this event we will seek out shallower waters.

This trip is aimed mainly at locals of the Kiltimagh/ Kilkelly and Straide/Foxford areas but all are welcome (including people who may not yet have attended our Zoom sessions). The Zoom sessions will continue later in the year and into 2022. There will also be more field trips across the county in 2022.

Below you will also find details of the clothing / footwear etc. which you might bring with you to the field course. Please bring with you what you will require by way of drinks  (water / coffee / tea etc.) and a packed lunch, as the sampling sites may not be located convenient to shops/ coffee shops.

Please see attached a Covid 19 tracing form, which you might be kind enough to fill out and bring with you to the course.

If you have family members, friends or colleagues who would like to join us they are very welcome!! You might ask them to also complete a Covid tracing form.

Best regards,

Ken and Martin

Project website: http://mayo.waters-project.com/,
Martin McGarrigle
Limnos Consultancy
Ballynew
Castlebar
Co. Mayo
+353 87 2526639
mcgarriglemartin@gmail.com

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Mayo Communities Caring for Water

Field Course  – Saturday & Sunday 4/5 December, 2021.

·         On Saturday 4^th we will meet from 09.15 onwards, at the Kiltimagh GAA Pitch Car Park in Kiltimagh (see map below or Google 53.8484891,-9.0133865).

·         On Sunday 5^th we willmeet from 09.15 onwards, outside Straide National School (see map below or Google 53.9294351,-9.1277267)

·         On both days we will visit a number of locations with some interesting sites that we hope you will enjoy.

·         Clothing and Footwear: Warm, waterproof clothing and if you have them, thigh waders / body waders. Otherwise please wear wellingtons. Please note that normally waders / body waders are required for sampling across the width of a stream.

·         Water Safety: The water we will be sampling will be shallow (20cm to 50cm) and life jackets are not essential, however, if you have one, you are strongly encouraged to wear a life jacket during the course.  Please note spare life jackets will not be available.

·         Recording: Notepad, clip board and pencils and if you have one, a X5 or X10 hand lens  

·         We will provide all sampling equipment e.g. trays, buckets  etc.

·         Biosecurity  –  could you please make sure any nets, trays or footwear you are bringing with you are completely dry or thoroughly disinfected. If you normally carry a disinfectant spray (https://virkon.com

Photos:  We plan to take some photographs during the course for use on social media and for promotional purposes. If you would prefer not to be photographed or to have your photo used in reporting on the course or publicising future courses, please do let us know. 

·         Health Issues: If you have any health issues we should be aware of, please let Martin or Ken know, in confidence, before the course.

·         Covid 19 and PPE – You will be asked to complete a Covid 19 tracing form in advance of each field visit.  You are expected to follow the standard Covid Guidelines when participating on the course. Could you please make sure to bring with you:  face masks, gloves, disinfectant wipes and hand disinfectant. We will have additional supplies of these items with us if required.

covid formDownload

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Link to River Pollagh Habitat Enhancement Document

We received funding through the Community Water fund to carry out a habitat management plan for this important tributary of the River Moy. It has suffered over the years and now a group of like minded people have come together to look at environmental solutions aimed at restoring trout and salmon habitat. The report has being presented in such a way that all actions are graded and locations are shown in order. This will allow our group to prioritise actions and also carry out works in a sensitive and structured manner.Please click on the link and read.Hopefully if you have an interest in a project of your own,this will inspire you.

river-pollagh-moy-rtDownload

River Pollagh Restoration Project

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  River Pollagh Kiltimagh

The River Pollagh Restoration group recently finished the first phase of their river restoration works . This involved removing plastic from a one and a half kilometer stretch of the river.This section was heavily polluted with silage wrap and after 3 long evenings work the group finally reached the next bridge. They used kayaks and a canadian canoe to move all the plastic downstream and all visible plastic was removed from the riverbank and riverbed.

They now plan to allow the migrating salmon spawn and recommence their work next Spring/Summer. Mayo county council arranged to collect the plastic and images here show the amount and scale of the issue that existed.

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Our submissons to the Draft County Development Plan 2021-2027

Unique Reference Number: MYO-C11-71

Submission:

Environemental solutions to municipal sewage treatment plants

Author: River Moy Trust

Date Created: 14.02.2021 – 5:40pm

Consultation:

Draft Mayo County Development Plan 2021-2027

Status: Submitted

Date Submitted: 14.02.2021 – 5:59pm

Cover Letter

I represent the River Moy Trust who would like to protect and enhance water quality in the Moy Catchment Area. We work with communities at solving identified issues or pressures on water quality

Observations:

Community Reedbeds to reduce the pressure of waste water management

Chapter: Volume 1 – Written Statement » 07. Infrastructure

Topic: Wastewater, Water, Waste

I would like to see the council take a proactive step in relation to the pressure of waste water management on the River Moy. All wastewater that enters a water course ends up in Killala Bay .The River Moy is generally accepted as one of our most precious natural assets.We have a responsiblity to protect and enhance it. I am aware of the remit that Irish Water has in relation to the treatment of our sewage treatment plants and feel that we as Mayo people and separate communities to improve the quality of the thing that connects us all ,our rivers.

I propose that Mayo County Council participate with the River Moy Trust in a feasability study that will aim to create a roadmap aimed at empowering all the towns and villages in Mayo to look towards installing a reed bed system adjacent to their municipal waste treatment plant.

The project itself will demonstrate concrete results in relation to water quality as all existing treatment plants are monitored downstream from the discharge point. Pipes should be designed to take treated waste water to the newly installed reed bed system and then an adjacent pipe should return the reed bed treated water to the existing discharge pipe.

Monitoring done by EPA will demonstrate the science behind the project through results recorded by the EPA monitoring service.

I also propose that a reed bed sytem of considerable size is constructed along the waste water pipe that feeds out of Castlebar to Ballavary. Lands should be purchased immediately to again further treat this wastewater and help improve the status of this lake which is deemed poor.It along with Lough Conn are two of our great western lakes and the unique structure of the lake with its shallow waters lends itself to further proliferation of the pollutant discharge waters.

Main opinion:

Again , a no brainer ,well within the remit of the council to improve water quality and protect and enhance our natural resources. If we are to promote tourism, we need to protect or natural resources

Main requests:

Begin the project and engage with the River Moy Trust to deliver this project for all our communities

Main reasons:

For our future and our childrens future

Unique Reference Number: MYO-C11-70

Submission: Peatland Management strategy

Consultation:

Draft Mayo County Development Plan 2021-2027

Author: River Moy Trust

Date Created: 14.02.2021 – 5:09pm

Status: Submitted

Date Submitted: 14.02.2021 – 5:30pm

Cover Letter

This submisson is on behalf of the River Moy Trust and we aim to protect and enhance water quality in the Moy catchment area .We are an environmental group who would like to work on solving environmental and water quality issues arising in the catchment area

Observations:

Mayo County Council preserving natural heritage and carbon offsetting

Chapter: Volume 1 – Written Statement» 10. Natural Environment

Topic: Bogs

We would like to see Mayo County Council take a proactive step in relation to peatland management. Any bog lands owned by Mayo County Council should be identified by its Climate action department .Appropriate assessments should be carried out on all sites. All sites should be assessed for rewetting and the process commenced. Degrading bogs emit carbon and only by rewetting them, within 30cm of the surface can bogs be rehabilitated and sphagnum moss can spread all over the surface again and start absorbing carbon on behalf of our council. The peat banks stored in the bogs are locked in carbon and these along with the potential sequestration should be promoted as one of the councils steps in fighting climate action.

This process will also have huge benifits in flood management as the Moy valley has numerous peatlands that will help ‘slow the flow’ which is one of the key steps in Flood Management.

Biodiversity will be increased as a result of habitat restoration.

Water quality will increase due to the reduced leaching ofthe oxidised boglands

Mayo county council should also look at facilitating a process whereby turbary rights owners are facilitated towards rehabilitating bogs if they so wish.

Main opinion:

rewet coucil bogs now and facilitate other bogs to be rewet.its a no brainer.AII future planning applications that aim to build on peatland or low lying bog should be made to rewet the bog or peatland as a matter of policy going forward once the ‘Windmill’ or similar had being installed

The Draft Mayo County development plan 2021-2027 is available to read .Please make a difference and have your say .I have submitted two proposals to the council in relation to the use of reed bed systems as a bolt on to existing municipal waste treatment plants and one on the restoration of bogs and the potential for our council to be a major partner in this space and lead the way.Make a difference and have your say here.https://consult.mayo.ie/en or simply read the draft and inform yourself here.https://www.mayo.ie/planning/county-development-plans/2021-2027

Advice on improving/protecting and enhancing bee habitat

River Workshop, 10th November

Final chance to book for this coming Saturday’s workshop.

programme has been finalised for the Enniscoe BioDiversity Blitz 2018

please click on the link below to see whats happening at the Enniscoe Biodiversity Blitz 2018

biodiversity flyer (print ready)

Update from River Moy Search And Rescue

Hi all,

Please find a record of the work over the summer.(click on link July to August….)

Turlough River is finally clean and relatively litter free; we were there for 5 hours yeaterday evening. Because I had a pair of snorkels, I was able to see under the water and there is plenty of fish life in that river thankfully. It was very badly littered earlier in the year.

There is one very troublesome area in Ballina regarding repeat littering; that is along both sides of the River Moy that the locals refer to as the ‘Canal’. It is a venue for binge drinking and we have cleaned it four times this year alone, including in both July and August, but found ourselves once again bringing a trailer load of litter away from there again last Saturday prior to a Children’s Angling Competition. Some preventative measures are surely needed for that area.

The national media covered a story this week about littered coasts and inland waterways, and described The River Moy as being ‘moderately littered’. It is definitely becoming more litter free, but there could easily be hundreds of drink cans and bottles entering the river from the “Canal’ area every year.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2018/0813/984703-litter-survey/

Regards,

Vincent Lang

July to August Marine Litter Clean-Ups RMSRB

Heritage week around Kiltimagh

Please forward to. Friends, Individuals,  Organisations, Parents, Relatives with Children for fun/safe once in a lifetime learning experience with Nature.

Wild Pollinators along River Glore

19 August, 3pm – 4pm

BOOKING REQUIRED

• Karina Dingerkus, Giorria Environmental Services
• Glore Mill, Kiltimagh
• Co. Mayo

Come and join us for a walk along the River Glore, and learn a little about our wild Irish Pollinators (bees, butterflies and other insects).

Admission & Booking

• Admission Free
  • to book contact 0863620928 or karina@giorria.com

Impact Mayo Rivers on Mayo

22 August, 12pm – 2pm

• Glore Mill Centre For Sustainable Biodiversity, Energy, Living, & Inland Fisheries Ireland
• Glore Mill Centre for Sustainable Biodiversity, Energy, Living
• Co. Mayo

Talk/Walk Impact Mayo Rivers and Nature have on how, where, we live, work and play in Mayo. Health of Nature determines.defines Human Health on how we live, work and play. As Nature is we Are.

Talk/Walk demonstrating how Mayo Rivers and Nature determine how, where, we live work and play. How health of Nature defines/determines our health. Our health and health of nature are one and same. Presented by Declan Cooke of Inland Fisheries Ireland. Protecting/Saving Biodiversity of land, water, plants, animals is protecting/saving ourselves.

Why nature is good for you

25 August, 8pm – 11:30pm

BOOKING REQUIRED

• Glore mill Centre for Sustainability
• Glore Mill Sustainability Centre, Kiltimagh
• Co. Mayo

Join Caitriona Carlin, NEAR Health, NUI Galway who will talk about how nature can benefit health and wellbeing. She will lead a walk along the Glore River to see or hear bats in flight.

Children must be accompanied by an adult. Dress for the weather. This walk is in conjunction with Galway Bat Group.

Admission & Booking

• Admission Free

 

For full event details  go to www.heritageweek.ie

or contact Ray Cooper. 087 1040 438.   email.   raycooper120@gmail.com

Knowledge Transfer National Event on Soil

Ward Agricultutal Consultants and the ACA are holding a Knowlege Transfer National event on the 27th July in Ballylahan, Straide.

A National Event is where a Agricultural Consultants hold an open farm evening, trying to promote a better understanding of a particular subject.  In this case Ward Agricultutal Consultants and the ACA are pushing for a better understanding of soil and how it works, its microbiology, compaction and how to improve both.

We are expecting over 100 local farmers to turn up on the night.

The details are

Friday 27th July 2018

6.30pm to 8.30pm

KT National Event

Cannings Farm

Ballylahan

Straide Co Mayo

F26 YD59