The Lough Melvin Programme

The Lough Melvin Programme Partners

An outline of the strands and their objectives is provided below.

Strand 1- Programme Coordination

Project Partner: Northern Regional Fisheries Board (Emer Campbell - Programme Manager, Colm O'Kane - GIS Technician, David Laing - Forest Project Officer, Michael Quinn - Waste Water Project Officer, Angela Killalea - Administration).
Aim: To produce a catchment management plan for Lough Melvin and its catchment that will promote “good ecological status” (as required by the Water Framework Directive) and could form the basis of a Biodiversity Action Plan (as may be required by the Habitats Directive) and;
To raise awareness and promote environmental controls, management, and improve environmental behaviour.

Activities

Convene and provide technical support to the Lough Melvin Catchment Management Group
Develop the existing GIS for Lough Melvin
Collate and incorporate existing data into a catchment management information system
Provide a focal point for contacts with farms and residents in the catchment
Financial management

Strand 2- Agri-Environmental

Project Partner: Teagasc (Rogier Schulte and Paul Byrne, Agri-Environmental Manager
Mobile: 087 2613062 Email: paul.d.byrne@teagasc.ie)
Aim: To develop and provide an agri-environmental suite of measures to safeguard and improve the environment of the Lough Melvin catchment.

Activity:

Conduct 240 farm visits within the catchment to define and cost a programme of measures appropriate to extensive farming in order to reduce nutrient release to Lough Melvin.

Molinia
SAC Molinia meadows in the Lough Melvin Catchment

Strand 3- Economic Assessment

Project Partner: Queens University (George Hutchinson, Danny Campbell, Claire Cockerill)
Aim: Conduct an economic assessment of costs and benefits of the proposed programme of agri-environmental measures. Investigate the use of “nutrient trading”.

Activities

Conduct a questionnaire survey of 1,000 households in the Melvin catchment to determine Willingness to Pay (WTP) for the preservation of the trout and char populations of Lough Melvin.
Assess the relative costs and benefits of each of the options offered by Strand 2 using the data obtained from farm surveys.
Examine the possibility of nutrient trading by reviewing best practice elsewhere, the information base required to operate and evaluate scheme, and the legislative framework required for application in a cross-border catchment.

Strand 4- Water Quality and Isotope Analysis

Project Partner: Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) (Bob Foy and Chris Barry)
Aim: To complete a water quality analysis programme for Lough Melvin and its inflowing river network with specific emphasis on nutrients and their sources.

Activities:

Conduct a water quality monitoring programme of lake and inflowing rivers (covering nutrients, algal abundance and oxygen status)
Conduct stable isotope analysis of biota in lake to determine relative importance of external and internal nutrient sources to Lough Melvin food-webs. Determine sources of carbon to Lough Melvin and their influence on productivity.