Some 70 per cent of Ireland’s estuaries and coastal lagoons are in an “unsatisfactory condition”, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says.
In its latest Water Quality in Ireland report, it says that these “transitional waters”, including estuaries and lagoons, are “in the poorest condition of any water body type” and the percentage is up six per cent from the last assessment.
The report is a three-yearly assessment of the quality of Ireland’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters, canals and groundwaters.
It has found that 52 per cent of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters are in a satisfactory ecological condition, which means in good or high ecological status.
This is a decline since the 2016-2021 assessment, when 54 per cent of surface waters were satisfactory, it says.
It says that 92 per cent of groundwaters are in good status. Canals are also in relatively good condition with 87 per cent achieving their water quality targets, it says.
Commenting on the report, Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment, said:
“Our rivers, lakes and estuaries are the lifeblood of our landscape and support our ecosystems, and our health and wellbeing.”
“ But they are struggling. They do not have the resilience to cope with the challenges they face, now and in the future. Surface water quality overall has been in decline since before the first of these assessments was carried out by the EPA in the late 2000s,” she said.
“It is very disappointing to report that water quality is not improving despite the many actions that are underway, across all sectors. It’s clear the scale and pace of implementation needs to be increased and sustained,” she said.
The EPA says the main pressures impacting on water quality are excess nutrients coming mainly from agriculture, urban wastewater discharges, and damage to the physical condition of water habitats from activities such as land and river drainage, forestry and urban development.
The report highlights that there have been improvements in phosphorus levels in our surface waters in areas prioritised for action where the right measures are implemented in the right places to target interventions.
There were also reductions in nitrogen levels at many river monitoring sites in recent years, which is a welcome development. Further reductions will be needed to reach levels that will support healthy ecosystems.
Information about local water quality and the pressures impacting it is available at www.catchments.ie
