Donal Hickey: Helping our rivers recover

Work on the Upper Blackwater conservation area involved the fencing of 30km of the riverbank

Members of Bride Project in Castlelyons in North Cork who are banding together to regenerate biodiversity on their lands. Picture Dan Linehan

GETTING the co-operation of farmers and other landowners in protecting our rivers has become an essential part of the struggle to ensure clean water.

Sewage inflow and discharges from agriculture are obvious sources of pollution, but action is also needed on other fronts, such as work on riverbanks and providing fencing to keep cattle out of the water. Bank erosion can result in silt seeping into river beds and damaging spawning areas for trout and salmon.