AQW 8556/22-27

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 11/03/2024
Answered On Date: 10/04/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) whether he is aware of the Rivers Trust's State of our Rivers 2023 report; and (ii) to detail what his Department is doing to improve the quality of our waterways through Rivers Agency and Northern Ireland Water.

Answer:

I am indeed aware of the findings of the Rivers Trust’s report. The findings highlighted by the Rivers Trust were published by NIEA in 2021 as part of the Water Framework Directive Statistics Report, which included the information that no river water bodies in Northern Ireland achieved overall good status. At that time, NIEA explained that this was due to a change in the status reporting to include so-called ‘forever’ chemicals in the assessment.

The work required is summarised in the draft third River Basin Management Plan for Northern Ireland. Following my consideration and review in light of the challenges posed by the occurrence of blue-green algal blooms in Lough Neagh, I will bring the Plan to the Executive for consideration in due course.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) is aware of the State of our Rivers 2023 report and has regular engagement with The Rivers Trust when carrying out their Statutory obligations. DfI officials liaise with DAERA NIEA colleagues to identify opportunities for improvements in Water Framework Directive status when carrying out watercourse maintenance and fluvial flood alleviation works. This also allows opportunities for enhancement to be identified and considered throughout the processes.