The area where CUAN BEO is operating as an organisation includes the Galway Bay area from Rinville Point (North) to Black Head in the South.

The region includes coastal communities of Rinville, Maree, Clarinbridge, Ballinderreen, Kinvarra, New Quay/Aughinish, Ballyvaughan, and the other various coastal villages.

The region also includes the inland towns and villages in its catchment such as Craughwell, Ardrahan and Gort, amongst others.

Galway Bay South East

Area(km²): 1267.9

Catchment Profile:
This catchment includes the area drained by all streams entering tidal water in Galway Bay between Black Head and Renmore Point, Galway, draining a total area of 1,270km². The largest urban centre in the catchment is the eastern part of Galway City. The other main urban centres in this catchment are Athenry, Loughrea, Gort, and Oranmore. The total population of the catchment is ~74,365 people with a population density of 59 people per km².

This catchment is predominantly underlain by karstified limestone, including the northern part of the Burren in County Clare, and the groundwater and surface water systems in the area are closely interlinked. Only the southeastern part of the catchment, which is underlain by old red sandstones, does not contain karst and the associated assemblage of springs, swallow holes and numerous caves that dominate the majority of the catchment. There is essentially no natural connected surface drainage network in this catchment west of a line running from Athenry to Craughwell to Gort. Surface drainage is entirely absent in the north Clare part of the catchment. In this area, virtually all rainfall in the area enters the bedrock aquifer and makes its way underground by a number of groundwater flow routes towards the coast at Ballyvaughan or Kinvara.