March 2021
LAWPRO
Land use is predominantly pasture with small areas of cut peat towards the north east and south east. The main towns are Knocklong, Hospital (part overlies), Emly, Kilross and Knockainey.
There are three public drinking water abstractions in the sub-basin.
Most of the Drumcomoge river channel is under the Groody, Maigue and Deel OPW arterial drainage scheme and the channel profile is suggestive of fairly extensive channel modification here in the past.
River hydromorphology assessments (RHAT) undertaken in 2019 by Wetlands Survey Ireland as part of a survey of the wider Maigue catchment on behalf of the Maigue Rivers Trust classified one site near Knockainey as Good and eight sites as either moderate or poor. The report states that ‘the main factors contributing to Poor assessments were the previous channel alteration, loss of riparian vegetation, and cattle access to the river leading to erosion and sedimentation’.
Drumcomoge_010 is not currently monitored under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for either biology or chemistry.
Significant issues are likely to be phosphate and sediment
Sediment and nutrients appear to be the significant issues in this waterbody. Agriculture is likely to be a significant pressure here in terms of nutrient (and possibly also sediment) pollution. Possible hydromorphology pressures include channel maintenance, channel alteration, land reclamation and bank erosion.
A0210-01 and A409-01
There are two urban wastewater treatment plants (UWWTPs) discharging to the sub-basin (Knocklong and Emly)