Minutes of 9 th Meeting of the WFD Co-ordination Group 4 March 2002

Transcription

1 Minutes of 9 th Meeting of the WFD Co-ordination Group 4 March 2002 Attended Mr John Sadlier (DELG) - Chair Dr Brian Leech (DELG) Mr Pat Duggan (DELG) Mr Gerry Flannery (DELG) Mr Andy Bogie (DELG) Dr Paul Toner (EPA) Dr Matt Crowe (EPA) Mr Larry Stapleton (EPA) Dr Karl Richards (EPA) Ms Eva Cahill (EPA) Mr Frank Clinton (EPA) Mr Peter Britton (LGCSB) Ms Tara Kerins (LGCSB) Mr Phillip McMahon (DMNR) Mr Trevor Champ (CFB) Mr Kevin Regen (WFB) Dr Elizabeth Sides (Heritage Council) Mr Donal Daly (GSI) Mr Geoff Wright (GSI) Mr Tom Bolger (OPW) Mr Matt Sinnot (DAFRD) Ms Jacqui Doyle (MI) Mr Angus Mc Robert (EHS, DOE NI) Mr Harry Dougan (EHS, DOE NI) Apologies Mr Billy Moore (Monaghan CC) Dr Evin Mc Govern (MI) Introduction Mr Sadlier welcomed all the participants to the 9 th meeting of the Coordination Group and welcomed Dr Richards, Mr Clinton, Mr Dougan and Ms Kerins who attended for the first time. 1. Adoption of Agenda Agenda adopted 2. Minutes The minutes were adopted with amendments (revised minutes will be circulated separately). 3. Matters Arising From Minutes Mr Sadlier referring to item 4 on the Working Group on Groundwaters said that DELG had nominated Mr Geoff Wright and Ms Margaret Keegan (EPA) to serve on the EU Expert Advisory Forum. (Article 17, WFD) 1

2 4. Website Development Mr Sadlier introduced Ms Kerins and added that the issue of a website was raised at the WFD Public Consultation seminars held at the end of Public consultation and access to information is a central feature of the Directive. Ms Kerins distributed a site map and gave a PowerPoint presentation on the prototype WFD website. The site will be made up of two parts public access and private access, via password, for members of the Co-ordination Group. The site name will be wfdireland.ie and the private side will be under a separate address. There will be a two-way link with the water quality web page on the DELG main website. Mr Flannery advised the Group that the draft documents on the private side of the site should be clearly labelled as draft so that they were clearly exempt records under the FOI Act. Once a document is no longer a draft it can be added to the public side of the site if this is useful for wider access. Mr Flannery also requested the Group to use/test the public and private sites and relay any feed back through to Mr Bogie. It was agreed that any documents that need uploading onto the public site should be sent to Mr Bogie. Any documents for the private side should be sent to Ms Kerins. It was also agreed that each Working Group shall nominate a member to liaise directly with Ms Kerins. Working Group members are to access public and private WFD websites and relay feedback to Mr Bogie. Action Working Groups leaders are to liaise with Ms Kerins for upload of documents to the Co-ordination Group site. All documents for the public site to be sent to Mr Bogie. Working Group members are to access public and private WFD websites and relay feedback to Mr Bogie. 5. Update on the Irish Working Groups Lakes Dr Toner said that the work of the Group was progressing even though it had been delayed by the EPA s move to new premises. 2

3 Rivers The Group needs access to digital terrain mapping in order to make progress on typology. Mr Stapleton is fast-tracking a project to do this. Further survey work is required on the Reference Sites if types are different. Mr Stapleton added that the Hydrology Meeting in January 2002 received a good turnout and input. The meeting focused on work on the 3 Rivers and the Derg Ree projects and the importance of hydrometric data in these projects. The next meeting for the Hydrology Group will be 12 March 2002 and all interested members of the Coordination Group are welcome. Action The next meeting of the Hydrology Group is 12 March 2002, all interested Co-ordination Group Members are welcome. Transitional / Coastal Waters Mr Stapleton indicated that the EPA will be contributing 20% of the cost under EPA RTDI research funds towards the SNIFFER project will deliver typology for transitional coastal waters on an IRL/UK basis. Action- EPA to contribute 20% of the funding costs for SNIFFER research on transitional/coastal waters from the RTDI. Groundwater The most recent meeting of the Groundwater Working Group was on 12 February GSI have attended meetings in Ireland and the UK and they are looking for a common approach with the UK. GSI have started data collection in the South East and they are starting in the West in the near future. The NS-TAG met on the 31 January 2002 and discussed cross border groundwater issues. A further meeting will be held towards the end of April 2002 where bedrock maps will be compared and the significance of cross border groundwater flow will be discussed. The significance of cross border groundwater flow needs to be assessed by the end of June Mr Wright attended the European Meeting of the Expert Advisory Forum. From this meeting it emerged that there is a problem with the groundwater being classified as only good or poor status. This has led to 3

4 differences of opinion between Member States on what deterioration should be defined as. Pressures and Impacts Dr Crowe said Dr Clenaghan has been liaising with the European Working Groups and has received useful feedback. Draft guidelines will be presented at the next Working Group Meeting in April The document is expected to provide umbrella guidance as well as help develop simple tools for River Basin District Projects. Action- Draft guidelines on pressures and impacts to be presented at the next meeting of the Working Group in April Fish Stock Assessment Mr Champ said that it emerged in the Maastricht meeting of the European Working Group in January 2002 that all the member states appeared to be experiencing the same difficulties with regard to fish stock assessment and the scale of the work in hand. Funding proposals have been submitted to the EPA at the end of January 2002 and a further meeting will be held with Compass Informatics to develop GIS proposals. Problems still exist in terms of transferring paper data to GIS format. Mr Champ also emphasised the disease implications of using untreated nets in several different water bodies (for instance the potential spread of zebra mussels). Mr Duggan said that the issue of collecting fish fauna data was discussed at the NS-TAG on the 20 February The need for peer review emerged from these discussions, as it is important to only collect data that falls within the requirements of the WFD. Mr Duggan added that the leaders of the Rivers and Lakes Working Groups need to decide on what data is needed in tandem with getting information from other Member States. Action- Leaders of the Rivers and Lakes Working Groups to decide on what fish stock assessment is needed in terms of the Directive and liaise with the Fish Stock Assessment Working Group. Economic Analysis 4

5 Mr Sadlier said that DELG are still considering the best way to bring this forward and proposals will be made to the Co-ordination Group at a later meeting. Action- DELG to consider the best way of bringing the issue of economic analysis forward. GIS Systems Ms Cahill said that the project is nearing completion. The workshop on GIS systems this afternoon will deal with the findings and recommendations of the project. Mr Britton said he would be attending a meeting of the EU Working Group later this week where the first cut of the data model of the WFD will be presented. Dr Crowe said the guidance document on Compass Informatics is close to completion. The document will soon be available on a CD-ROM. Action- Workshop on GIS to deal with the findings and recommendations of the GIS systems project. Public Consultation Mr Flannery said the DELG are in discussions with COMHAR concerning public participation and NGO representation on the Co-ordination Group. Mr Flannery will arrange a meeting with COMHAR in early April Mr Sadlier said that under the terms of the WFD public consultation and participation must have a high priority. Action- Mr Flannery to arrange a meeting with COMHAR in early April 2002 and discuss the bringing of NGOs into the process of public consultation. 6. Register of Protected Areas Mr Stapleton said that Mr Peter Askman has been working on this and publication of a draft report is expected reasonably soon. Mr Duggan said that this issue had a huge mapping requirement and it may be useful to use Consultants from the River Basin Projects to assist. Mr Champ said this work is also important for fish stock assessment (i.e. 5

6 designation of salmon sites). Mr Ryan said the list of protected areas will evolve over time. Action- Draft report on the Register of Protected Areas to be produced by Mr Askman soon. 7. Research Developments Mr Stapleton said that he had received several research proposals for funding and that no more can be considered to the limited budget allocation. Dr Richards is now putting together a final document. Dr Richards said there is 1.27 million to spend on all WFD research requirements. He will be contacting all those who have submitted research proposal. Project negotiations will start in June 2002 and awards are expected at the end of June The projects will need to be cross-referenced with the articles in the WFD. Action- Mr Richards to start research project negotiations at the start of June 2002 with the view of making awards by the end of June. 8. Proposed National Reporting and Data Centre for WFD Purposes Ms Cahill said that there have been no developments since the 8 th WFD Co-ordination Group Meeting. The subject will be discussed in the Workshop this afternoon. Action- Proposed national reporting and data centre for WFD purposes to be discussed at the GIS Workshop. 9. Pilot River Basin District Mr Flannery said that DELG have proposed that the Shannon River Basin be put forward as a possible pilot. The participating local authorities have agreed to this and a document on the proposed pilot will be submitted to the EC. Action- Pilot River Basin Proposals will be submitted by DELG to the EC for the Shannon River Basin. 10. Control Over Abstractions No significant progress has been made since the 8 th WFD Co-ordination Group Meeting but the matter is in hand with NS-TAG. 6

7 Action- The issue of control over abstractions is to be brought forward by NS-TAG. 11. North- South Technical Advisory Group (NS-TAG) Mr Duggan said that on the 20 February 2002 agreement was reached on the SNIFFER proposals to deliver marine typology (Ireland s contribution will be 20,000 sterling). This is set to be complete by the end of November The rivers and lakes sub-group has agreed to a work plan. This plan will need joint North/South funding. The draft proposals on delineation of International River Basin Districts were discussed at the meeting in Belfast on the 20 February Finalisation on this is expected this week for a presentation to the Working Group on Water Quality in March Dr Leech said that the delineation of International River Basin District would need ministerial approval. The Ministers are scheduled to meet on the 17 April UK Developments Mr Mc Roberts said that Mr Dermot Nesbitt is the new Minister for the Environment in Northern Ireland. Progress has been made on setting up an equivalent of the Co-ordination Group in Northern Ireland. A public consultation document is due to be published in March outlining the general terms of the WFD. England and Wales are due to publish a document soon and Scotland will be publishing a second document. All the documents will be made available to the Co-ordination Group following publication. 13. Other Developments - River Basin Management Projects Mr Sadlier said that approval for the South East River Basin Management Project is expected to be issued by DELG within the next two weeks. Interviews for consultants are currently being held for the Shannon River Basin Management Project. The Eastern and Western River Basin Management Projects are currently arranging interviews. - Good Agricultural Practice (Waste, Water Quality, Nitrates, Etc) 7

8 Mr Sadlier said that DELG have put out an Information Paper and copies of this have already been circulated to all Co-ordination Group Members. 14. Next Meeting Monday 15 April Any Other Business A Co-ordination Group contact list for all members of the group was circulated (it will also be circulated electronically). Mr Flannery asked the group to relay any amendments they may wish to make to the list to Mr Bogie. Following completion of the list it will be posted on the WFD Website. Action - Co-ordination Group members to liaise with Mr Bogie with any updates for the Co-ordination Group contact list. Updated document to be circulated electronically. 8

9 Summary of Action Points Working Groups leaders are to liaise with Ms Kerins for upload of documents to the Co-ordination Group site. All documents for the public site to be sent through Mr Bogie. Working Group members are to access public and private WFD websites and relay feedback to Mr Bogie. The next meeting of the Hydrology Group is 12 March 2002; all interested Co-ordination Group Members are welcome. EPA to contribute 20% of the funding costs for SNIFFER research on transitional/coastal waters from the RTDI. Draft guidelines on pressures and impacts to be presented at the next meeting of the Working Group in April Leaders of the Rivers and Lakes Working Groups to decide on what fish stock assessment is needed in terms of the Directive and liaise with the Fish Stock Assessment Working Group. DELG to consider the best way of bringing the issue of economic analysis forward. The Workshop on GIS is to deal with the findings and recommendations of the GIS systems project. Mr Flannery to arrange a meeting with COMHAR in early April 2002 to discuss the bringing of NGOs into the process of public consultation. Draft report on the Register of Protected Areas to be produced by Mr Askman (EPA) soon. Proposed national reporting and data centre for WFD purposes to be discussed at the GIS Workshop. Pilot River Basin Proposals will be submitted by DELG to the EC for the Shannon River Basins. The issue of control over abstractions to be brought forward by NS- TAG. 9

10 Co-ordination Group members to liaise with Mr Bogie with any updates for the Co-ordination Group contact list. Updated document to be circulated electronically 10