December 10th, 2019
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that the overall quality of Ireland’s lakes, rivers and estuaries is deteriorating, reversing all gains achieved in recent years.
The EPA’s latest Water Quality report describes the quality of
water in half of our river resources as “unsatisfactory”, while the number
of pristine river sites has experienced a “dramatic loss”.
The report’s findings are based on the
EPA’s examination of the ecological health of over 2,700 surface water bodies
and over 500 groundwater bodies over a five year period (2013 to 2018).
According to the new findings, only 53
per cent of all surface bodies were found to have satisfactory ecological
health.
Ireland’s number of pristine water
resources has now dropped to 20, reaching a record-low level from around 500
site in the 1980s.
Nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from
agricultural lands and urban wastewater discharges are identified in the report
as the primary culprits for deterioration.
Such pollution, the EPA said “can
cause excessive plant growth and increase in the likelihood of harmful algal
bloom”. A third of rivers and lakes and a quarter of estuaries are failing to
meet their nutrient-based ecological quality standards.
Nitrogen leakage to water bodies from
agricultural land is a significant issue in the south and southeast of the
country, the report states, with the EPA recommending meaningful nitrogen
reduction measures to be carried out urgently.
Phosphorus pollution due to wastewater
discharge has been identified as a particular problem in parts of the northwest,
northeast, east coast, southeast and south of the Shannon Estuary.
The number of fish kills due to water
pollution and “depressed oxygen concentration” increased to 40 in
2018 after reaching a historic low of 14 in 2017.
The number of “seriously polluted” river water bodies has also increased to nine from its previous figure of six in the last study period between 2010 and 2015.
According to Dr Matt Crowe, the
director of the EPA’s assessment department, Ireland is violating its
commitments to clean polluted water bodies and maintain pristine water
resources.
“Positive trends reported previously
by the EPA have reversed. Not only are we failing to improve overall water
quality, we are also failing to prevent further deterioration of our
rivers,” Mr Crowe warned.
The Minister for Housing, Eoghan
Murphy TD today acknowledged the significance of the report’s findings, urging
all sectors to engage in “this increasingly urgent situation and reduce
their impact on water quality”.
Mr Murphy said that the State is
committed to taking meaningful steps for alleviating the adverse impact of
agriculture and urban wastewater industries on Irish river water resources.
“Our wastewater system requires substantial and sustained investment. Firstly, just to bring the systems up to the expected standards of a modern service; then also to provide for population growth and, finally, to build resilience in the face of climate change,” he added.
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