Profile Id: BWPR00147

Year Of Profile: 2013

Year Of Identification 1992

Version Number: 1

1. Profile Details:

Toilets Available: Yes

Car Parking Available: Yes

Disabled Access: No

First Aid Available: Yes

Sensitive Area: No

Dogs Allowed: No

Lifesaving Facilities: Yes

Figure 1: Bathing Water

Bathing Water Profile - Lahinch (2013)

Bathing Water: Lahinch

Bathing Water Code: IESHBWC100_0000_0100

Local Authority: Clare County Council

River Basin District: Shannon

Monitoring Point: 109291E, 187776N

2. Bathing Water Details:

Bathing Water location and extent:

The bathing water at Lahinch is located on the west coast of Clare.

The designated bathing area is 0.05 km2 approx in size and extends 300m along the shoreline below the promenade at Lahinch.

Main features of the Bathing Water:

Type of Bathing Water

Lahinch town is built around the bathing area. There is a defence barrier consisting of large boulders above the designated bathing area below the promenade, put in place to prevent coastal erosion. Lahinch is a sandy beach. The beach can be subject to strong waves and strong currents.

Flora/Fauna, Riparian Zone

The marine riparian zone at Lahinch is classified as heavily modified. Below the rocky defence barrier the bathing area is sandy with the absence of vegetation associated with the upper, middle and lower beach zones.

Water Depth

The depth of water increases slowly and steadily westward towards the horizon.

Tidal Range

During the bathing season the tidal ranges vary between 3.5m and 5.3m.

Land Use

Apart from the town of Lahinch itself land use in the immediate vicinity of the designated bathing area is recreational in the form of Lahinch Golf course. The predominant land use outside the urban area is agriculture.

Visitor Numbers

Max. number of visitor during a day in high season: 1000

Approx number of visitor during the bathing season:

Map 1: Bathing Water Location & Extent

Activities available at the Bathing Water:

Surfing, including wind surfing and kite surfing, angling and horse riding are all activities that take place at Lahinch Beach. Clare County Council introduced Beach byelaws in May 2008 under Part 19 Local Government Act, 2001, & Local Government Act, 2001 (Commencement) Order 2006. Under these bye-laws the following activities are prohibited: • Horse riding (between 11am and 6pm) • Dog walking (between 11am and 6pm) • Any use of motorised watercraft • Surfing in the vicinity of swimmers

Contributing catchment details:

The Inagh River Catchment and the Moy River Catchment are the main freshwater inputs to Liscannor Bay, which may impact on water quality at the designated bathing area in Lahinch. The River Inagh rises in Slieve Callan approximately 32km southeast of the mouth of the river where it flows into Liscannor Bay. This main river body is fed by 7 smaller catchments en route to the sea, namely the catchments of: • Aughaglanna River • Aillenabrockagh River • Ballymacravan River • Dealagh River • 4 smaller unnamed streams The River Inagh flows through Inagh village before passing through Drumcullaun Lough and flows onwards for a further 12km before passing through Ennistymon town and developing into the Inagh Estuary. The Inagh River Estuary is an estuarine channel that flows westwards to the sea from Ennistymon towards Lahinch (8500 p.e.). The estuaries of both the Inagh and Dealagh Rivers converge before O’Brien’s Bridge and enter Liscannor Bay. Immediately south of the designated bathing area three small streams discharge to the sea. All these streams are less than 1 km in distance. The stream immediately south of the designated bathing area is piped to the sea. All streams are located in sewered areas. The Moy River Catchment is located further south of Lahinch. The River Moy is 1.5km in length and discharges into Liscannor Bay approximately 1km south of Lahinch Beach. Overall the water quality status in the catchment is good.

The land use in the Inagh catchment is predominantly rural with agriculture as the major land use. Risk from agriculture is classed largely as low with a smaller area (10%) classed as moderate. Wetlands and forestry also make up a small percentage of land use. The four waterbodies classified as poor status under the Water Framework Directive has been for the most part attributed to agriculture or forestry. The landuse of the Moy River catchment is agricultural and carries a moderate risk of pollution. Under the Shannon River Basin Management Plan (July 2010), this waterbody is classified as having good status.

Monitoring point details: The designated bathing area is 0.05 km2 approx in size and extends 300m along the shoreline below the

promenade at Lahinch. The location of the monitoring point is directly opposite the lifegaurd hut.

Reason for selection of the monitoring point:

Location where most bathers swim due to its location below the lifeguard hut.

Water quality assessment:

• 2010 -2013 : Excellent.

3. Identified Pressures:

Map 2: Bathing Water Catchment

Description: Outside the areas of Lahinch, Ennistymon and Inagh the remaining catchment is unsewered with population of <25 per square km.

Source: Diffuse pollution from unsewered areas

Type: Waste Water Treatment plant

Short Term Pressure: No

Description: WWTP's serving two facilities in the catchment , Lahinch Golf and Leisure Hotel, ST Dominic Savio Nursing Home.

Source: Section 4 WWTP

Type: Waste Water Treatment plant

Short Term Pressure: No

Description: There are a number of forestry plantations in the catchment.

Source: Forestry

Type: Other

Short Term Pressure: No

Description: EPA licenced Landfill site in Ballyduffbeg.

Source: Landfill Site

Type: Other

Short Term Pressure: No

Description: A small number of quarries are in the catchement.

Source: Quarry

Type: Other

Short Term Pressure: No

3.2 Potential pressures in the catchment assessed as posing risk:

3.1 Potential pressures in the catchment assessed as posing no risk:

Description: The main land use in the catchment is agriculture, farming is not intensive and is comprised of small dairy and beef farms and associated spreadlands.

Source: Agriculture in the catchment

Type: Run off from agricultural land

Short Term Pressure: Yes

Nature: Low Risk

Frequency: very infrequent

Duration: < 24 hours

Risk AssessmentMethodology:

Methodology as recommended in EPA guidance document on preparing Bathing Water Profiles.

Risk Assessment Results:

The Microbial Pollution Potential (MPP) grades for agriculture risk were calculated based on the distance from thebathing area and the agriculture risk associated with a particular area. The agriculture risk is censusdata based on pressures from cattle and sheep (Department of Agriculture 2000), tillage (Department of Agriculture2000), and pigs and poultry (Teagasc 2000). For the Shannon River Basin Management Plan (July 2010) resultshave been applied to agriculture layers of the Corrine 2000 in Mapinfo.

Details: Overall within the catchment there is a low risk of diffuse pollution occurring from agriculture during the bathingwater season. Farmers are permitted to spread slurry, and other farm effluents, on spreadlands located within thecatchment throughout the bathing season. However during times of heavy rainfall there is a risk of runoff fromslurry spreading to adjacent waters, which may have adverse effects on the water quality at the bathing area inLahinch. In the event that there is diffuse pollution from agriculture the duration of short-term pollution would bevery short.

Management Measures: Ensure that farmers are spreading slurry in accordance with the European Communities (Good Agriculture Practicefor Protection of Waters) Regulations 2009. In this regard, it is not permitted to apply slurry to land within 48 hoursof heavy rain being forecast. Enforcement notices will be issued to farmers who are not spreading slurry inaccordance with European Communities (Good Agriculture Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2009

Environment and Water Services Directorate, Clare County Council. Tel: 065 68 4621616.

Description: Six pumping stations ( Ennistymon (1) , Lahinch ( 3), Inagh (2)) are in the bathing water catchment.

Source: Pumping stations

Type: Waste Water Treatment plant

Short Term Pressure: Yes

Nature: Low Risk

Frequency: very infrequent

Duration: < 24 hours

Risk AssessmentMethodology:

Methodology as recommended in EPA Guidance Document on preparation of Bathing Water Profiles.

Risk Assessment Results:

The Microbial Pollution Risk for all the sites are low and very low with a WQI grade of B.

Details: Overflow of raw sewage from a pumping station.

3.3 Other Risks:

Assessment of the potential for proliferation of cyanobacteria:

Current information suggests that the bathing water is not at risk of a proliferation of cyanobacteria.

Proposed management measures for cyanobacteria:

N/A

Assessment of the potential for proliferation of macroalgae:

Current information suggests that the bathing water is not at risk of a proliferation of macroalgae.

Proposed management measures for macroalgae:

N/A

Assessment of the potential for proliferation of marine phytoplankton:

Current information suggests that the bathing water is not at risk of a proliferation of marine phytoplankton.

Proposed management measures for marine phytoplankton:

N/A

Additional Information:The following information is to be displayed on the notice board at Lahinch: The bathing water at Lahinch is located on the west coast of Clare. The designated bathing area is 0.05 km2 approx in size and extends 300m along the shoreline below the promenade at Lahinch. Adjacent to the designated bathing area is a sand dune system which forms part of the Inagh River Estuary SAC. The beach slopes gently towards the water. The Inagh River enters to the north of the beach, outside of the designated bathing area. The sampling point is located just below the lifeguard hut, where most bathers are frequent. There is a very low risk to water quality at Lahinch, however short term pollution events may occur after heavy rainfall fom point and diffuse sources of pollution.

4 Bathing Water Status From Previous Sampling Years:

Management Measures: Regular maintenance and inspections are carried out at the pump stations to ensure that they are in working order at all times.

Description: There are five municipal WWTP in the catchment.There is no WWTP at Liscannor and untreated wastewater enters the sea.

Source: Wastewater Treatment Plants

Type: Waste Water Treatment plant

Short Term Pressure: Yes

Nature: Low Risk

Frequency: after heavy rainfall

Duration: < 48 hours

Risk AssessmentMethodology:

Methodology as recommended in EPA Bathing Water Profile guidance document.

Risk Assessment Results:

1.Liscannor: Microbial Pollution Potential: Low WQI Grade B, Microbial Pollution Risk : Low.2.Lahinch: Microbial Pollution Potential: Low WQI Grade B, Microbial Pollution Risk : Low.3.Ennistymon:Microbial Pollution Potential: Low WQI Grade B, Microbial Pollution Risk : Low.4. Inagh:Microbial Pollution Potential: Low WQI Grade B, Microbial Pollution Risk : Low.5. Connolly:Microbial Pollution Potential: Low WQI Grade B, Microbial Pollution Risk : Low.6. Kilfenora:Microbial Pollution Potential: Low WQI Grade B, Microbial Pollution Risk : Low.

Details: Storm water overflows from WWTP's during heavy rainfall

Management Measures: Ensure that all WWTP's are in compliance with EPA Waste Water Discharge Licences and Certificates of Compliance.

5 Contact Details:

Contact: Clare County Council

Email: clarebathing@clarecoco.ie

Address: Transportation, Water Services & Environment Directorate, Áras Contae an Chláir, New Road , Ennis, Co. Clare

Phone: 065 6846331

2010 2011 2012 2013

Lahinch Good Good Good Good