Irish water pollution falls but threat still looms

Serious water pollution in Ireland has fallen, but municipal and agricultural waste still poses a threat to the condition of Irish waterways, a new report claims.

The Water Quality in Ireland 2001-2003 report, compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), found that serious pollution in rivers and streams fell to just 0.6 per cent of the surveyed channel, the lowest level since the early 1990s.

In general, the report found Irish water quality was of a high standard, with 91 per cent of the lake water surveyed classed as a satisfactory condition. There was good news for swimmers too, with designated fresh water bathing areas on lakes complying fully with regulations.

The review of the country’s water quality took in over 13,000 kilometres of river and stream channel, 500 lakes, 69 individual tidal water bodies located in 25 estuarine and coastal water areas.

However, while the overall news was good, the report shows that there is still room for improvement; eutrophication, or over-enrichment, of rivers, likes and tidal waters is still a danger to Irish water supplies. Although there was some progress made on reducing the extent of rivers affected by this, this progress has not been sustained.

The proportion of unpolluted channel fell slightly by 0.6 per cent to 69.2 per cent, which was attributed to a small increase in those waters classed as slightly polluted (17.9 per cent).

In the south-east and south of the country in particular, nitrate concentrations were shown to be above natural levels.

Faecal coliforms were also a concern in groundwaters throughout the country, with almost half groundwater sources surveyed found to be contaminated.

The level of pollution in Irish waters has other side effects. The EPA drew particular attention to the number of fish kills reported in the 2001-2003 period; at 147, it is still below the figures of the 1980s, when fish kills numbered more than 200, but the environmental organisation described the current figure as "unacceptably high".

Speaking at the report’s publication, Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, said certain aspects of the report are "not so comforting".

"We must have no doubt as to the considerable strengthening of effort and resolve that is needed to protect existing water quality and to bring about a sustained trend of improvement," he said.

The minister also pointed out the need to work with the farming community to resolve issues of pollution, but emphasised that high levels of investment by farmers in waste management needed to be acknowledged.

Commenting on the report, Tom Dunne, IFA Environmental committtee chairman, said it confirmed the high quality of water in Ireland.  "The decline in the percentage of river channel classified as ‘unpolluted’ which has been ongoing since the 1970’s has been halted. Ninety-one per cent of lake waters are deemed to be in a satisfactory condition and the incidence of faecal coliforns in ground water has also reduced by 16 per cent," he said.

"While agriculture, as the most significant land use in the country, obviously features in the report, the most significant improvements in serious pollution have been identified following investment to counter municipal/local authority waste discharges."