The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) has said swimmers, surfers, kayakers and parents have a stake in the success of the third river basin management plan currently being finalised by the Government.

The network of 25 environmental NGOS has initiated a campaign to strengthen the plan, stating it is “deeply alarmed” at the prospect of “another weak water plan... that will condemn our rivers, lakes and coasts to another five years of continued deterioration and pollution”.

SWAN says the draft plan is “completely lacking the strong ambition and targeted actions needed to tackle the pressures degrading our waters, and to restore them to good health”.

“Half Ireland’s rivers, lakes and estuaries are unhealthy and water pollution is escalating, driven by inadequately treated sewage, unregulated land drainage and river alterations, and by unsustainable land use, especially intensive agriculture in vulnerable and nutrient-saturated catchments,” SWAN co-ordinator Sinéad O’Brien said.

“The future for our rivers, lakes and coast is bleak if we continue down this path,” she said.

“Every five years we get a golden opportunity with the river basin management plan to introduce robust controls to stop the reckless destruction of our water environment, which is so vital to the wellbeing of all of us,” she said.

“We are disappointed to be faced with the draft of yet another plan that will fail to fix the problem and we urge the Government to see sense and bring in a plan that constitutes a real step change in water protection rather than one that tinkers at the edges and shies away from tackling the most serious threats for fear of stepping on any toes”.

“A clear example of where the plan fails is with sewage, which is responsible for the pollution of more than 200 water bodies, yet the proposed plan doesn’t include measures to fix these by the 2027 deadline,” she continued.

“The fact that raw and poorly treated sewage is still being released into our rivers, lakes and seas is completely unacceptable and even more unacceptable is the fact that this plan won't fix that. We're calling for the Irish Water Investment Plan to include action to halt sewage pollution in these waters, as a priority,” she added.

Dr. Elaine McGoff, Natural Environment Officer with An Taisce said that “we know that agriculture is by far the biggest pressure on our waters, yet there is no risk assessment done, on intensive farms, or derogation farms”.

“We need these assessments in order to get a clear view of the potential water pollution resulting from this type of land use, and to identify the appropriate measures that should be put in place to stop or prevent it. How can any plan for our waters say it is going to prevent deterioration of water quality if it isn’t even assessing the risk posed by this type of agriculture?” she noted.

Pádraic Fogarty, Irish Wildlife Trust, said that SWAN’s key recommendations relate to reforming the Arterial Drainage Act, introducing a prohibition on wetland drainage and developing a national wetland restoration plan.

“This would not only restore our rivers and lakes, while improving water quality, it would also deliver immense benefits for climate, nature and flood resilience. It really is a no-brainer but there is no mention of this in the plan,”he said.

“Over the summer period, many of us will bathe, surf or kayak in our wonderful coastal waters,” Bernie Connolly of Cork Environmental Forum said.

“However, this plan has no targeted measures to tackle the non-land-based pressures on our coastal waters such as hydraulic dredging, offshore renewable energy infrastructure, shipping and seaweed harvesting,” she said.

“How can the plan hope to succeed when it essentially ignores this whole area of our waters? Our recommendation is to include coastal and transitional waters in the plan with these targeted measures detailed,” she said.

Mark Boyden, Streamscapes project director said that for the plan to work, public and local river groups/trusts must involved from the start in the development of action plans for their local waters.

“They need to be facilitated and resourced to do this. We also need full transparency and access to up-to-date water quality information,” he said.

More details of the campaign are on swanireland.ie

The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) has hit out at the Government’s draft plan for managing Ireland’s inland and coastal waters.

The network of 25 environmental organisations says the River Basin Management Plan is “completely lacking in the strong ambition, measures and targets needed to restore our waters to good health”.

The plan - the third since 2009 – aims to reflect the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in restoring all of Ireland’s waters to a healthy state by 2027 and to prevent any further deterioration.

“Despite this, only half Ireland’s rivers, lakes and estuaries are currently healthy,” SWAN says in a statement.

“ With river water quality in decline and water pollution now rising at an unprecedented rate, the network of 25 environmental organisations sees this as a water crisis that will persist under the proposed plan,”it says.

SWAN co-ordinator Sinéad O’Brien said that while there are “some welcome improvements in the draft plan”, its lack of ambition is “most disappointing”.

River water quality is in decline and water pollution is rising at an unprecedented rate says SWAN

“The plan as it stands is a hotch-potch of actions and aspirations that may, or may not, restore some of our water bodies to health,” she said.

“ In fact, under law we must restore all our waters by 2027, but this plan lacks the specific, targeted and time-bound measures that would provide a clear path to achieving this,” she said.

“One of our key recommendations is to introduce a prohibition on wetland drainage and to develop a national wetland restoration plan. This would not only restore our rivers, lakes, and improve water quality, it would also deliver immense benefits for climate, nature and flood resilience,” O’Brien said.

“Sewage is the main source of pollution in 208 waterbodies, yet the proposed plan doesn’t include measures to fix these by the 2027 deadline,”she noted.

“The fact that raw and poorly treated sewage is still being released into our rivers, lakes and seas is completely unacceptable. The plan should include a requirement that the Irish Water Investment Plan includes action to halt sewage pollution in these waters, as a priority,” O’Brien said.

An Taisce’s natural environmental officer Elaine McGoff said that agriculture policy “must be brought in line with the directive so as to halt and reverse escalating water pollution”.

“Risk assessments based on the directive requirements should be implemented for all intensive farms, including derogation farms. We also need directive-based assessments when giving licences for forestry and a ban on afforestation and re-planting on peat soils in acid-sensitive catchments, which is detrimental to water wildlife,” she said.

Coastwatch coordinator Karin Dubsky

Coastwatch coordinator Karin Dubsky noted that “only 38% of our estuaries are now officially ‘good’ status”.

“Healthy estuaries are vital for nature and coastal communities. We need to jump from disjointed promises and aspirations to integrated management, with clear actions to reach at least ‘good’ status in the plan,” Dubsky said.

“Those actions must be integrated across all national level coastal and marine policy, and legislation, including the new Maritime Area Planning Act and the National Marine Planning Framework.,” she said.

Streamscapes project director Mark Boyden said that “to ensure we restore our waters, we need the public and local river groups/trusts involved from the start in the development of action plans for their local waters”.

“They need to be facilitated and resourced to do this. We also need full transparency and access to water quality information,” Boyden said.

In a separate statement, An Taisce has called on the government "as a matter of urgency" to strengthen the proposed measures in the Nitrates Action Programme to safeguard Ireland’s water quality.

An Taisce has recommended a range of actions, and is calling on Ireland not to seek another Nitrates Derogation from the European Commission until sufficient safeguards for water in Ireland are proven to be in place.

The link to public consultation on the draft river basin management plan, which runs until March 31st, is here