Mark Horton – Ballinderry AMI Coordinator

Presented by

Laverne Bell Ballinderry Riverfly Monitoring Team Volunteer Eileen Mallon Northern Ireland Environment Agency The Ballinderry River, Co. Tyrone

County Tyrone/Londonderry International RBD Neagh-Bann

Catchment Area 480 km2 Main Channel Length 47 km Source Camlough – Sperrin Mountains Mouth Lough Neagh

Urban Centre Cookstown Catchment Population ~33,000 A catchment of diverse land use

49.5% - Improved grassland

10.2% - Arable horticulture

37% - Unimproved (peat bog, heath, woodland)

2.3% - Continuous urban and suburban rural development

1% - Inland water A very important 1%...but why? Upper Ballinderry River Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI)

Upper Ballinderry River Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Natura 2000 site

Lough Neagh Wetlands RAMSAR (Iran 1971) Internationally important site for migratory wildfowl

Otter Freshwater Pearl Mussel Stream Water-crowfoot Ancient woodland

The largest oak tree in Ireland, the Drumond Oak, is on the banks of the Ballinderry River at Killymoon Castle, near Cookstown Wet woodland

Home to many important bird species and mammals Kingfisher Alcedo atthis

There a good populations of Kingfisher throughout the Ballinderry River system White-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes

The Ballinderry is the most northerly river in Ireland known to have white-clawed crayfish Atlantic salmon Salmo salar

By the time salmon run from the Atlantic, up the River Bann, into Lough Neagh and up the Ballinderry they have lost their silver colour and are pink and brown River brown trout & dollaghan trout Salmo trutta

Dollaghan, unique to the Lough Neagh Rivers, migrate to the lough before returning as adults to the river to spawn.

Brown trout spend their whole lives in the river. Just some examples of the pressures Diffuse and point source agricultural pollution

With 60% of the catchment in agricultural use poor farming practices have the potential to make a big impact Serious pollution events

In October 2010 an entire above-ground slurry store containing pig slurry emptied into a tributary of the river system.

These events are thankfully rare but have a devastating impact on the river and its wildlife. Underperforming Wastewater Treatment Works

February 2011 – Cookstown WwTW discharges raw sewage into the Ballinderry due to misconnections in the storm water and sewerage network.

This is after a £14 million improvement scheme to the plant. Poor planning decisions

Building too close to the river left this newly built house teetering on the edge of the river.

It’s oil tank was washed into the river – thankfully it had not been filled with oil. Industrial pollution

Dirty water run-off and chemical pollution have the potential to at least clog up fish spawning gravel and mussel beds ... at worst they result in major ecological wipe- outs. Illegal fuel laundering and dumping

January 2009 - Cat litter, used to strip the red dye out of agricultural diesel, has been dumped near the river . Diesel seeping out of the cat litter makes its way into nearby water courses. Ballinderry River Enhancement Association  An association set up in 1984 to tackle the problems of...  Declining numbers of fish  Degrading water quality  Habitat destruction  Now a charity and part of the Association of Rivers Trusts  Carries out projects to...  Improve water quality  Breed locally endangered species  Restore habitat  Educate the community  Today represents  8 angling clubs  2 river ‘clean-up’ groups  1 canoe club Why the need for an AMI on the Ballinderry?  Ongoing intermittent and persistent pollution pressures in the catchment – AMI means more eyes on the river

 Identified the need for a ‘local’ water quality monitoring group through a community-led river action plan (RIPPLE)

 NIEA operational monitoring is being reduced from annual to 3-year rolling programme due to resource constraints Setting up NI’s first AMI

 January 2010 – BREA/RP/NIEA initial meeting  Pilot project agreed  Pilot project is supporting WFD Local Management Area Plan for Ballinderry

 June 2010 – BREA secures funding - National Lottery’s Big Lottery Fund  Equipment/training for 24 volunteers  GIS to pilot recording of data spatially – first for AMI

 Minister for the Environment, Mr Edwin Poots MLA, announces at Stormont that his Department is supporting the pilot Training the volunteers October 2010 - First 12 volunteers trained by the RP

NIEA representatives invited observe training

Volunteers identify potential sampling points - visited by the AMI Coordinator

Approved sites’ details sent to NIEA for Trigger Levels to be set

Last 12 volunteers to be trained by RP May/June 2011 NIEA’s regular statutory monitoring network

OSNI map Ballinderry AMI sites so far (first 12 volunteers)

OSNI map Combined NIEA/AMI monitoring network

OSNI map January 2011 Data starts to come in... Making the AMI work in Northern Ireland

 Protocol for AMI breaches tailored to NI  NIEA staff briefed on AMI  Breeches reported directly to Pollution Hotline

 Breeches may help target further investigative river walks

 Continuous low scoring sites to be investigated by BREA and/or NIEA  Tackle the causes of invert suppression  Review trigger levels

 Spatially mapped AMI data shared with NIEA to inform river basin planning process The future of the AMI in Northern Ireland...  Seminars and regular meetings between BREA/NIEA on progress

 June 2011 - Review of Ballinderry AMI Pilot  NIEA resource commitment / Gains from volunteer commitment  Value of AMI and its application in NI  Outcome – recommendations on a way forward

 Already interest from the Six Mile Water Trust, Angling Clubs (inc. Ulster Angling Fed.) and wildlife groups

 Partnership is key – BREA/ART/RP/NIEA working together, sharing learning, knowledge and expertise, working towards a common goal. A special thank you to the funders and supporters