The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says there has been “no significant change in any of the water quality indicators for Ireland’s rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwaters”.
Results for 2023 show “no sign of improvement overall”, it says.
“While improvements are happening in some rivers and lakes, these are being offset by declines elsewhere,”it says, identifying nutrient pollution from agriculture and wastewater as the biggest issue.
Average nitrate levels in rivers, groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters are largely unchanged and remain too high in the east, southeast and south, the EPA says.
Average phosphorus levels in rivers and lakes are also largely unchanged and remain too high in over one quarter (27 per cent) of rivers and one third (35 per cent) of lakes, it says.
The findings of the EPA’s report, Water Quality in 2023: An Indicators Report, has been described as “disappointing” by Dr Eimear Cotter, director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment.
“While there are initiatives happening nationally, measures to address water quality are not being implemented at the scale or pace required. The quality of our water bodies will not improve until nutrient levels are reduced in areas where they are elevated,”Dr Cotter says.
The report says that 42 per cent of river sites, 17 per cent of estuarine and coastal waters and 20 per cent of groundwater sites all have nitrogen levels that are unsatisfactory.
It says this is “primarily attributable to intensive agricultural activities on freely draining soils in these areas”.
Phosphate levels can fluctuate annually but overall there has been no significant change over recent years, it says.
It says that 27 per cent of river sites and 35 per cent of lakes (particularly in the north and northeast) have elevated phosphorus levels.
Phosphorus entering our waters is largely associated with poorly treated wastewater and run-off from agricultural lands with poorly draining soils.
Dr Elaine McGoff, head of advocacy with An Taisce, said that the findings on agricultural nitrogen pollution should come as “no surprise”.
“Farmers are jumping through a number of environmental hoops, but the problem is the measures they’re being asked to put in place don't work for all pollutants, and they’re largely inadequate for targeting nitrogen pollution,”Dr McGoff said.
“They may work well for silt, phosphorus, or biodiversity, but they’re not designed for addressing nitrogen. And, until we fix that and put the right measures in the places that we need them then we’re only fooling ourselves if we think the water quality trends are going to dramatically improve. We need to take a science-based catchment approach,”she said.
“It’s also shocking that our wastewater 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 polluting wastewater discharges into all water bodies,”Dr McGoff said.
