The making of a river basin management plan is a function reserved to local authorities and the process of finalising plans, including that for the South-Western River Basin District, will be completed in the coming months. A National Advisory Committee has been established to co-ordinate this work across each of the Districts and to oversee the subsequent implementation of the plans.
Cork County Council is the co-ordinating authority in relation to the South-Western River Basin District. This project has been funded by my Department and to date in excess of €8 million has been granted to the South-Western RBD.
The plans will specify the environmental objectives to be achieved in relation to water-bodies and the measures to be implemented in order to achieve these objectives. The programmes of measures must be operational by the end of 2012.