£6.7m Water Quality Initiative Launched

A new EU-backed initiative to combat the effects of climate change on bathing waters in Wales and Ireland is being led by researchers at University College Dublin (UCB) in partnership with University of Aberystwyth.

The €6.7m Acclimatize project, announced in March by Welsh Government Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford AM, aims to improve the quality of seashores in both regions to boost tourism as well as support marine and agricultural activities. Backed with ‎€5.3m from the EU’s Ireland Wales Cooperation programme, the project will use and develop a range of technologies, including smart real‐time predictive tools to monitor water quality to protect the marine environment and human health.

The Aberystwyth University team is led by Professor David Kay from the Centre for Research into Environment and Health at the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. “Climate change is predicted to increase extreme rainfalls which transport pollutants to the coast. The timing and magnitude of these effects is key to predicting their impacts on key resources such as bathing and shellfish harvesting waters. A core element of the Acclimatize project is to predict these effects and suggest mitigation strategies where adverse impacts are predicted as the climate changes.

“The Acclimatize project is designed to develop and implement smart and innovative management approaches which will build resilience and sustainability to our coastal water u sed for bathing and shellfish harvesting. This will make a significant contribution to the delivery of Our Sustainable Future - A Framework for sustainable development for Ireland (2012) and The Environment Wales Act (2016) both in the areas of natural resources management and climate change to underpin economic growth centred on recreation, tourism and the sustainable management of Wales' coastal ecosystems,” Professor Kay added

In Ireland, the project will focus on bathing waters in Dublin Bay and is led by UCD Professor Wim Meijer of University College Dublin. “Working in partnership with Aberystwyth University, the Acclimatize project will make a significant contribution to developing innovative management systems to protect our coastal waters from the impact of climate change. As a result, this will support economic growth through improved water quality which will lead to a range of benefits such as increased tourism and shellfish harvesting in Ireland and Wales.”