North Western River Basin District

The principle river systems are the Foyle (with its tributaries the Mourne, Derg, Strule and Finn Rivers) and the River Erne which drains the uplands of Cavan, Fermanagh and Monaghan.  Lough Foyle is the main coastal water and Upper and Lower Lough Erne, Lough Melvin and Lough MacNean the main lakes.

• NW RBD first cycle river basin management plan summary 2009 – 2015 
• NW RBD second cycle river basin management plan summary 2015 - 2021

The baseline second cycle 2015 Classification results showed that the NW RBD has the best water quality in Northern Ireland with 45% of the surface water bodies at good or better status. Of the remaining, 46% were moderate, 7% poor, 1% bad and 1% not designated. The majority of individual elements monitored are at good status however the one out all out rule for classification i.e. status is determined by the lowest from all the standards that are assessed, has led to many not achieving good.  Groundwater bodies unlike surface waters are classified as good or poor for quantitative and chemical status, which combine to produce an overall.  There are 45 groundwater bodies in the NW RBD, 37 are at overall good status.

By 2021 we aim to increase the number of surface water bodies achieving good or better status to 85%, with all groundwater reported as good.

The interactive web map allows the quality of the water bodies to be viewed.

• Interactive river basin map viewer

This area has a dedicated Catchment Management Officer who covers the catchments within the NW RBD – Roe, Faughan, Burn Dennet, Owenkillew, Derg, Mourne, Strule, Lower and Upper Lough Erne and Lough Mevin.

Steven McDowell        Steven.McDowell@daera-ni.gov.uk

The Catchment Officer continually works with groups of stakeholders - details on becoming involved can be obtained by contacting Steven.