LAST UPDATE | 14 Jun 2023
WATER QUALITY HAS not improved in Ireland’s rivers or lakes in recent years, new analysis has found.
A study published today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified that there was no significant change in the overall biological quality of rivers or lakes in 2022.
Improvements in some areas were matched by a similar rate of decline in others.
Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment Dr Eimear Cotter called the failure to improve water quality last year and over the longer term “extremely disappointing”.
She said that clean water is “essential for our health and wellbeing, our economy and for wildlife”.
“We will not meet our water quality objectives until nutrient levels are reduced in those areas where they are too high,” Dr Cotty said.
She said addressing the failure “must be a priority for the agriculture sector and Uisce Éireann to reduce the losses of nutrients to water”.
While we can see improvements happening in some areas, these are offset by declines elsewhere, so overall there is no discernible change in the biological quality of our rivers or lakes in 2022.
“Improvements need to be far greater and more widespread to translate into an improving national picture.”
Nitrogen, a nutrient that can enter water sources due to human waste water and activities like agriculture and forestry, can cause an overgrowth of plants and algae that in turn clogs water channels, sucks up oxygen, and harms fish.
Nitrogen levels, which increased between 2021 and 2022 due to agricultural fertilisers and manure, are too high in 40% of rivers and 20% of estuarine and coastal water bodies.
In rivers, the south east of the country has had the highest nitrate concentrations over time of any region, which the EPA associates with intensive farming, freely draining soils and lower effective rainfall.
The western and border regions had the lowest overall river nitrate concentrations but still experienced an increase between 2021 and 2022.
Of 103 estuarine and coastal water bodies that were studied, 20% were considered to be in unsatisfactory condition with regard to nitrogen levels. Like rivers, many of these were in the south and south-east of the country.
The five worst areas were:
Nitrogen levels increased by the highest amount over the last decade in the Lee Estuary in Co Cork, Wexford Harbour, Swilly Estuary in Co Donegal, and Mulroy Bay in Co Donegal.
However, they also decreased in some area areas, such as Erriff Estuary in Co Galway, Broad Lough in Co Wicklow, and Dublin Bay and Malahide Bay in Co Dublin.
Meanwhile, phosphorus, another nutrient that is damaging in large amounts, was found to be too high in 28% of rivers and 36% of lakes. The high levels are driven by agricultural runoff and waste water discharges, according to the EPA.
The majority of lakes with unsatisfactory phosphorus concentrations are located in the border region. The five lakes with the highest concentrations were Farnham in Co Cavan and Naglack, Inner, Egish and White Rockcorry in Co Monaghan.
“The ecological recovery of these lakes may take a long time due to legacy stores of phosphorus in their sediments,” the EPA report notes.
EPA Programme Manager Mary Gurrie called for “full implementation of the Nitrates Action Programme through compliance promotion and targeted agricultural inspections”.
“Uisce Éireann must prioritise investment in areas where wastewater is impacting on water quality, and the forthcoming River Basin Management Plan must provide a comprehensive plan to address all the pressures on our water environment to protect and improve this precious resource,” Gurrie said.
Last year, The Journal reported that Waterford City and Council was using a bleaching chemical to disinfect streams near some of its popular beaches.
The council said it had not carried out any environmental assessments of the use of bleach, because it is taking place outside of the Waterford Estuary’s special conservation area (SAC) and therefore “would not pose significant effects” on wildlife.
The council faced fierce criticism from environmental activists and later confirmed that it decided to look into alternatives.
Reaching to the report, An Taisce’s Natural Environment Officer Dr Elaine McGoff said that “in what has now become an annual ritual, this report from the EPA again highlights the consistent decline in water quality”.
“This will come as no surprise to anyone working in the area. Dairy intensification is the main driver for nitrate pollution in the south and south east. Ireland now has approximately 1.6 million dairy cows, that’s an increase of around 50% in the last decade, with a 1.4% increase in 2022. It’s no surprise that average nitrate levels in rivers and estuaries also increased,” Dr McGoff said.
“It’s also shocking that our waste water treatment plants are still polluting our waterways in this day and age. It is critical that the Government take the necessary steps, and provide the necessary funding to halt wastewater discharges into all water bodies.”
Coordinator at the Sustainable Water Network Sinéad O’Brien said: “Another year and another report from the EPA showing yet again the ongoing failure of the government to address our water crisis and to stem the tide of water pollution.”
“The government now has a golden opportunity to fix this in the upcoming River Basin Management Plan. This final plan will show whether this government is serious about the unhealthy state of our rivers, lakes and seas,” O’Brien said.
“The increase in nitrate pollution is mainly in the south and south east and is attributed to intensive agriculture pollution. This shows that current measures are not working and we need additional measures in the plan.
“Measures such as nutrient restrictions based on the carrying capacity of catchments and risk-assessments for intensive farms with a licensing system similar to pigs and poultry farms. These measures would result in a marked reduction in agricultural water pollution.”
Similarly, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said that “the failure to reduce pollution levels will make it more difficult to achieve the EU and national goal of restoring our waters to good or better quality by 2027″.
Whitmore called on the government to “support and work with the agriculture sector to bring levels down – but we also need better enforcement and regulation to ensure that rules are being adhered to”.
“This Government likes to paint a rosy picture of its environmental track record. However, despite all the rhetoric and spin, the metrics tell a very different story.”
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