The deadline to submit comments in response to Uisce Éireann’s public consultation on its draft Regional Water Resources Plan - North West ends on 21 February.

The plan sets out options for providing a more secure, reliable and sustainable water supply for approximately 732,700 customers in the North West region over the next 25 years. The three month public consultation on the plan began in November 2022 and will close next week on Tuesday 21 February.

The National Plan will be the first resources plan for the entire public water supply in Ireland.

The Plan will identify the needs across existing supplies and the challenges and opportunities to be faced over the coming years including legislation, climate change, the environment, growth and economic development.

The draft RWRP-NW describes the North West Region and the current challenges faced now and into the future in terms of delivering a safe, secure and resilient water supply. It identifies progress made to date - for instance, leakage reductions, capital investment works, and works in progress.

There are 142 Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in the North West Region, which collectively serve 732,700 people or 18% of the population of Ireland, via approximately 17,732 kilometres of distribution network and 119 Water Resource Zones. These treatment plants also serve 74,000 businesses.

The region itself covers approximately 26,912 square kilometres, encompassing counties Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Sligo and parts of Clare, Longford, Louth, Meath and Roscommon. Eight islands off the coast of Ireland are also included in the region.

Speaking ahead of the end of the public consultation period, Mairéad Conlon, Water Resources Strategy Lead for Uisce Éireann said:

“We would like to thank those who have engaged with us on the plan so far. We received valuable feedback throughout the consultation from individuals, groups and organisations. We would like to remind those who are interested in sending their submissions in response to the public consultation to do so before Tuesday, 21 February."

“The development of a draft plan on how Uisce Éireann will supply water across the North West region is an important step. The draft Regional Plan will offer key benefits in terms of transformation of our supplies, including the ability to cater for growth and economic development in a sustainable way, improved interconnectivity between our supplies to ensure balanced regional development, and new sustainable water sources that are adaptable to climate change."

“The draft plan sets out how we envisage water will be supplied to homes and businesses across the North West region over the next 25 years.”

Given the scale of the area to be covered, the National Plan is being rolled out in 2 phases. The National Plan was first adopted in the summer of 2021 and Uisce Éireann has since moved into phase 2, which has 4 separate Regional Water Resources Plans.

The four regions are:

• Regional Water Resources Plan: North West
• Regional Water Resources Plan: South West
• Regional Water Resources Plan: South East
• Regional Water Resources Plan: Eastern and Midlands

Each Regional Plan is subject to its own consultation and, once adopted, all of the Regional Plans and the Framework Plan will be treated as a unified National Plan.

Uisce Éireann is seeking feedback on the public consultation for the draft RWRP-NW and associated SEA Environmental Report and Natura Impact Statement. 

All submissions will be taken into consideration and responses to the issues raised will be summarised in a Consultation Report.

Click here to view the consultation documents