LAWPRO STAFF FEATURE ON RTÉ’S ECO EYE

Arecent episode of RTÉ’s long-running environmental series Eco Eye featured staff from LAWPRO (Local Authority Waters Programme). The episode is titled ‘On the Water Front’, which is appropriate given that it focuses on efforts by communities and local authorities to protect and enhance water quality, with examples in both rural and urban areas. LAWPRO is driving a new approach for managing water quality on behalf of local authorities that involves:

• Coordinating the activities of the 31 local authorities and relevant State agencies

Basil Mannion, Community Water Officer,

• Applying catchment science to create an understanding of the issues impacting on water quality

• Supporting local communities to get involved in the management of their local rivers, lakes and coasts.

Eco Eye is produced by Duncan Stewart and Earth Horizon, an independent Irish production company. Each series covers ‘big issues’ that affect the environment, wildlife and human health, and presents solutions and glimmers of hope for future directions. ‘On the Water Front’ was a great opportunity for LAWPRO to deliver water-quality messaging to a wide audience from a national platform. The episode of Eco Eye generated a lot of positive engagement on social media and comments in support of LAWPRO’s involvement and collaboration with the EPA. Mary Gurrie, Programme Manager, EPA, had this to say:

‘Thanks to all the LAWPRO participants and community groups for getting involved [in Eco Eye]. They were great and it was a powerful way to get the message out about how we can all work together to protect our water quality.’

A key focus for LAWPRO is raising awareness of water-quality issues at a local level and potential solutions. The opportunity to deliver that messaging on a national scale allows both LAWPRO and local authorities to highlight ongoing efforts to tackle the causes of declining water quality in Ireland.

There is an initial idea for a follow-up episode of Eco Eye that will focus on LAWPRO’s work in more detail and show areas where this approach is resulting in improvements in water quality, with added benefits for biodiversity and communities. The episode ‘On the Water Front’ aired on Tuesday 11th February and may be still available on RTÉ player.