“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
These words are from a book, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which went on to inspire the creation of a global environmental movement against the use of pesticides after it was published in 1962. When I first read it as a 14-year-old schoolboy there was content which I couldn’t fully comprehend. But the message about the overuse of pesticides was so strong that even without fully understanding everything, it opened my eyes to the damage that humans can inflict on the natural environment.
Until recently, it suited the government to classify many of our rivers as pristine and natural, untouched by harmful human activity, to portray them in a greener light. This granted them a designation called a Good Ecological Status (GES), which is used for pure and green environments. This also had the added benefit that it was great for advertising agricultural products such as beef and dairy by stating they are produced in an environment portraying an image of a natural, untouched landscape.
This change of classification matters significantly. With a higher ecological status such as GES, the environment is better protected. With a lower classification of HMBW
The designation of water bodies as HMWB is supposed to provide certainty regarding the environmental objectives to be applied to those water bodies for management and regulatory purposes. Instead, it is having a knock-on effect where if the proposed changes are implemented and apply to our headwater catchment rivers and streams, stream enhancements will be vulnerable to drainage activities and any chance of a natural recovery impaired.
We do not believe that the Office of Public Works (OPW) would be in favour of this, however, they are sitting on the fence where the HMBW review is concerned. OPW have come under a lot of criticism regarding the dark era of land drainage operations. To improve their image they have been more open to natural recovery and support enhancement schemes for our water courses, but the new proposed legislation could mean environmental considerations are put aside in the name of land drainage, in future operations. Cairde an Chláir and organisations like ours will be left with no weapons to oppose these actions, land drainage will take precedent over protection of the natural environment.
At Cairde an Chláir, we accept the “scars” of arterial drainage works from the 50s and 60s have left their mark, as this obvious evidence would make it difficult to dispute the potential reclassification of our catchment as HMWB. However, it is the associated change of ecological status which comes with this downgraded classification which is of greater concern. By changing from GES to GEP, all our development work and the long term restorative management of our waterbodies could be put at risk.
This problem is far larger than just the Clare river catchment and is of national concern. Recently, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) held a public consultation on the designation of heavily modified water bodies for Ireland’s third cycle River Basin Management Plan which ended 23rd May and is now under review. Under current plans, DHLGH will designate 466 rivers as HMWB, up from the current 33. This means that 433 water bodies which until now have been classified with a GES have now been declassified to a lower ecological status, GEP. All of these water bodies could soon be affected by these challenges.
Today, we better recognise the impact which humans have on nature. Cairde an Chláir has instilled a compassionate restorative approach into our conservation and protection of wild brown trout and salmon across the Clare river catchment.
Over the last ten years, Cairde an Chláir has worked in collaboration with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) toward rectifying some of the arterial drainage work damage which has resulted in a decline of the natural environments wild brown trout and salmon need to thrive in the Clare river catchment. This has been a very successful arrangement and to date 10,000 metres of headwater habitat has been enhanced to better support wild brown trout and salmon.
IFI have been very positive about this work, and have put in man power and many hours of administration to meet meet governance issues to ensure that the developments keep moving forward. They also supported Cairde an Chláir with a conservation measure to give mature wild brown trout greater protection in the form of a reduced catch limit for the Clare river. These positive actions have helped our fisheries recover.
A lot of time, money and effort has gone into the restoration of some of our headwater streams for the recruitment of wild fish. We see nursery habitat enhancement for improving recruitment, and conservation measures to give mature fish greater protection as a positive way forward to increasing wild fish stocks. This is a good news story and we want this story to continue. But now, their future is being put in jeopardy.
We do not wish to see a government department such as DHLGH implementing legislation that could be detrimental to the natural recovery of our water courses. Ireland requires stronger legislation to protect our river environments, not weaker legislation that puts them at risk.
Improved biodiversity of our riverine habitats and improved water quality should be high on the list of priorities for a new status designation for our water bodies. The affects of the word potential in the proposed environmental status requires greater consideration. Even if we accept these rivers are heavily modified, we must find a way to still protect them in any ecological status, be it ‘good’ or ‘potential’. In the interests of moving forward with greater hope for our waterways in the future, we can’t afford to move in a retrograde direction and put all our successful work at risk. Ireland’s natural environments and habitats deserve better and must be protected.
Find out more:
An Taisce, The National Trust for Ireland put in an excellent submission regarding HMWB Public consultation
As a member of the Corrib Catchment Partnership, Cairde and Chláir supported a joint membership letter of opposition to the proposed change of water bodies in Ireland.
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