The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has identified the areas where farms will likely have to reduce their application rate of organic manure nitrogen from 250kg N/ha to 220kg N/ha following a review of water quality required under the Nitrates Directive.
In a new report the EPA said that based on the specified water quality criteria set out by the European Commission, when it granted Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation for 2022-2025, “over 44,000 km of land is identified as requiring additional measures to protect water quality”.
The EPA stated in the report: “The commission requires that by January 1 , 2024, derogation farms located within this area reduce their application rate of manure from a maximum of 250kg nitrogen/ha per year to 220kg nitrogen/ha per year.”
Ireland’s current Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) started last year and concludes in 2025.
When the commission granted Ireland a nitrates derogation it was subject to a number of conditions including an interim water quality review which had to be carried out this year.
In the EPA report – Water Quality Monitoring Report on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations in Irish waters 2022 – the agency outlined that there has been an increase in nutrient concentrations since 2012/2013 in most water types.
“Nitrate concentrations were higher in 2022 than in 2021,” the EPA stated.
It also detailed that the highest densities of derogation farm holdings are located “in the south east, the south west, and to a lesser extent in the north east”.
The EPA also said in the report that the main water quality issues from farming activities are “loss of excess nutrients and sediment to water”.
It specifically detailed that nitrate is “highly mobile in the landscape” while phosphorus is much more readily lost from poorly draining soils” and that excess ammonium may “also be a problem in some water bodies”.
The EPA has developed a Targeting Agricultural Measures map to identify the types of “agricultural issues that require targeted measures”.
According to the EPA the aim of the interim water quality review, required by the commission, was “to identify waterbodies that are polluted, at risk of pollution or showing worsening trends as a result of agricultural activities”.
Under the terms of the nitrates derogation the commission set out four water quality criteria which had to be evaluated:
In its report the EPA said that the results of the commission’s water quality review criteria showed that more than “44,000 km are identified for requiring additional measures as part of the conditions of Ireland’s derogation.
According to the EPA its report has been submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) who in turn will submit it to the European Commission along with other information.
The interim water quality review review was to be submitted by June, 30 to the commission.
“The implementation of the outcome of the water quality assessment and any measures required is the responsibility of DAFM,” the agency stated.