Westmeath, Longford and Offaly county councils have prepared draft by-laws controlling agricultural activity to prevent or eliminate the pollution of local waterways. The by-laws will be put to councillors within six weeks and will go a long way towards protecting the quality of Lough Ree and its tributaries.
The councils confirmed this week that the by-laws were being modelled on Cavan County Council draft by-laws which were drawn up to protect the Sheelin and Erne lakes, and on similar laws being drafted in Tipperary North Riding to protect Lough Derg.
The by-laws emerged from the Lough Derg and Lough Ree catchment study, which recommended a range of measures to halt eutrophication, i.e. excess phosphorous enrichment of surface waters in the catchments.
These laws define "intensive agricultural enterprise" as poultry units with more than 40,000 places for poultry; pig-rearing units of more than 2,000 finishing places, over 400 sow units or 200 sow-finishing units.
The by-laws in Cavan that specify which townlands are vulnerable will require farmers to provide a minimum storage capacity of 24 weeks.
The local farmers have been given three years to comply with the conditions. The council will assess the storage facilities within six months of making the by-laws.
The council will reduce the storage limits if a nutrient management plan is provided. But the facilities will have to be constructed to the specifications published by the Department of the Environment.
The regulations specify that the spreading of manure must begin as early as possible in the season, with at least half spread by July 1st and the remainder by September 30th. They will ban the spreading of chemical or organic fertiliser on exposed bedrock, frozen or snow-covered land, steeply sloping land, free draining soils overlying permeable rocks or where heavy rainfall is forecast within 48 hours.
The by-laws enforced by the council's environment staff will also specify buffer zones where spreading cannot take place.
The buffer zones will be within 50 metres of domestic wells, 100 metres of public wells, 20 metres of main river channels or 10 metres from other watercourses.
The by-laws will also require every farmer in the listed areas to draw up nutrient management plans within six months of the laws being made. Farmers will only be permitted to apply all fertilisers in accordance with this plan within one year of the laws being made.
A spokesman for Longford County Council said it might not insist on a 24-week storage capacity because farming was less intensive there than in Cavan. However, the by-laws would probably seek a 20-week storage capacity.
A statement from the Irish Farmers' Association's national environment committee chairman, Mr Francis Fanning, expressed grave concern over the impact of the proposed by-laws on farmers in Cavan and Tipperary.
Mr Fanning said by-laws requiring farmers to have minimum manure storage for the winter months would pose serious difficulties for many farmers in the counties involved.
"While time periods are being allowed to provide this storage, it may not be possible for farmers to supply this storage requirement, particularly where financial resources are limited," he said.
The organisation has already made a submission to Cavan County Council and has commissioned agricultural and environmental expertise to help it reduce the impact on farming.