Public Participation in identifying Bathing Waters
Under European and Irish law, Local authorities must identify official bathing areas in their area every year so that they can be monitored for safety, water quality and their level of use. To help with this process, Donegal County Council are asking people who swim at beaches, lakes and rivers to advise if they think the Council should maintain existing designated bathing waters designations or give a new official bathing area designation to areas that are commonly used for swimming, but not identified at the moment.
The official bathing areas are the areas where local authorities focus their resources providing lifeguards and routine water quality monitoring during the summer season. The local authority is required to prepare detailed descriptions or profiles for each of the identified bathing water sites that describe not just the bathing area but also areas in the surface waters catchment area that could be a source of pollution. The profiles include an assessment the risk of pollution and what action would be taken if pollution occurs.
If you are a regular swimmer and want to help the Council decide which bathing areas should be classified as such, please consider the following:
- How your swimming area has been used up to now
- How many people use the site/location
- What facilities exist at the site and how accessible is it
- Any safety issues, (eg- dangerous rip currents)
If you wish to propose your favourite beach/river etc as a new bathing water site or comment on an existing site, please contact bathingwaters@donegalcoco.ie
Closing date for submissions to Donegal County Council is 1st March. For further information please contact bathingwaters@donegalcoco.ie