Discussion about bathing waters at Corry Strand and Keeldra Lake

Cllr Padraig Fallon proposed that the possibility of Corry Strand, Lough Allen being designated as a wild bathing area be examined by Leitirm County Council and asked for an outline of the Council's responsibilities around such areas to be given.

Addressing the December meeting of Manorhamilton Municipal District ,Cllr Fallon said after the launch of the county's Tourism Strategy, he was approached about the issue. 
"To my mind, Corry Strand is one of the safest places to swim in the whole county, if not country," he said.
A Report by the Economic Development section by Leitrim County Council stated there is one designated bathing water at Keeldra Lake and in 2023, for the third consecutive year, the presence of an algal bloom resulted in an ‘Advice not to Swim’ notice being erected on the lake during the bathing season. 
The response continued that nutrient and chemical pollution due to agricultural and forestry run-off, and insufficient wastewater treatment can cause excessive algal growth and eutrophic blooms of toxic cyanobacteria making the bathing water unsafe for swimming. 
The Council has undertaken many investigations over the last few years to determine and cut off the source of the nutrient issue and have also been working closely with the Keeldra community, Inland Fisheries and the Local Authorities Water Programme to understand and mitigate the cause of the excessive nutrients at Keeldra Lake, however, the elimination of this excessive algal growth on the lake will take many years.

The reply continued that "creating a new designated bathing water brings with it an onerous guardianship responsibility and this Council currently does not have the resources to take on the responsibility of a bathing water at Corry Strand. The Council does, however, take water samples at local swim areas ahead of the national swim week lessons."

Cllr Fallon said that he knew there was a guardianship responsibility on the local authority but added, "I can't see that it's that awful onerous and maybe at some stage, they might come back to us with what the exact responsibilities are. I do know they have to sample the water every so often. We'll come back to it again."

He said that Corry Strand is a "fantastic place" and "when we do have a good summer, it is really well used."

Cllr Mary Bohan said that when her children were young, "Corry Strand was like that beach in Enniscrone but that all changed when the water level was kept up for the purpose of the boats mooring, etc. and there is much less strand now but it's still used extensively and there used to be swimming lessons every year for children."

She said that benches and tables that were installed at the spot were vandalised and "thrown into the lake".

She said it is something that needs to be kept on the agenda and "look and see how we can make the improvements" and find the "root cause of the algae."

Cathaorileach Cllr Justin Warnock also supported the motion saying that Corry Strand "is a beautiful setting" and said that it is something that needs to be looked into.