Northern Ireland environment minister focuses on water quality

The Northern Ireland environment minister Edwin Poots has stressed that water quality will be a foremost concern within the country's environmental policies.

Mr Poots announced that the River Basin Management Plans, which were published today (December 22nd), will form the basis of the future improvement work due to be carried out by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).

The latest plans are due to be implemented between 2010 and 2015 using local management areas to effectively introduce the new measures.

"Using river basin planning, we will take an integrated approach to the protection, improvement and sustainable use of the water environment, from source to sea," Mr Poots explained.

In addition to improvement works, the plans are formulated to assess the pressures and impact on the water environment, analyse the economic importance of water use and design programmes to monitor any changes.

Mr Poots also encouraged people to visit the NIEA website where an interactive map will provide details of water quality in the region's river basins.

Posted by Lauren Steadman