The water quality report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which was required by the European Commission under the Nitrates Directive, has “not been independently reviewed”.
The recently published Water Quality Monitoring Report on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations in Irish waters 2022 report is currently being reviewed by the European Commission.
However, the report has “not gone to a third party”, director of the Office of Evidence and Assessment at the EPA, Dr. Eimear Cotter said.
In its report, the EPA identified the areas where farms will likely have to reduce their application rate of organic manure nitrogen (N) from 250kg N/ha to 220kg N/ha from 2024.
The review of Ireland’s water quality was required by the European Commission under the Nitrates Directive. Ireland’s current Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) concludes in 2025.
EPA
Speaking at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine today (Wednesday, July 19), Dr. Cotter stressed that the report followed the criteria set out by the commission.
Outlining the EPA’s assessment and analysis which brings together “vast amount of data” and allows the EPA to see the “main pressures” on Ireland’s water bodies, Dr. Cotter said:
“We start in the river or the estuarine or the lake, we take a measurement there, we analyse that sample in our laboratory. We see whether it is nitrate, phosphorus and then we start working back to see what is happening in the area around that water body.
“What are the populations, what are the number and the location of septic tanks, are there wastewater treatment plants, what is the level of treatment in those plants, what are the number of animals, the excretion rates, the soil type.
“Forestry, industry – we look at all of that information and use models that have been developed over many years and published, peer-reviewed to determine what is the source of the nutrient that we are seeing in the water.”
Agriculture impacts 1,000 water bodies in the country, followed by physical modifications like drainage, channelisation and also wastewater impacting about 200 water bodies, she added.
The design and the distribution of EPA sites across the country is “reviewed on a regular basis” by the commission under the Water Framework Directive and the Nitrates Directive, she said.
“We have our points around the country that give an accurate picture. We are monitoring 3,000 water bodies, that gives us an extremely dense network and extremely high-quality picture of what is happening in the country,” she said.
‘Not enough scientific evidence’
The president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Tim Cullinan told the committee today that there is “not enough scientific evidence” to justify reducing Ireland’s nitrates derogation limit.
Estimating that the loss to the rural economy will “likely be €236 million”, and a much more “devastating impact” on family farms, the IFA president said:
“Farmers will take on board scientific evidence and have implemented a huge amount of measures at farm level, but what is proposed here is not logical and farmers are getting frustrated.”
Under the terms of the Nitrates Derogation the European Commission set out four water quality criteria which had to be evaluated:
“Article 12’s assessment of water quality is not scientifically robust. It is not fair or justified, yet it will have massive ramifications for the entire agricultural sector,” Cullinan said.
The IFA seeks an “immediate resolution” by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue to Article 12, and to explore “alternative measures that can improve water quality without decimating farm families,” he added.
Senator Victor Boyhan, who is a member of the committee, said the EPA report is “very significant” and its ramifications could have “far-reaching” impacts on agricultural outcomes.
He stressed the importance of “scientific integrity”, and that a “balanced analysis” of water quality data is required to formulate national policy.
Commenting that Teagasc research demonstrates that nitrates losses to water are caused by a multitude of factors and is “not simply linked to herd size”, the senator said:
“All those involved in research, advice and innovation must work together collaboratively to provide farmers, rural communities, and policy makers with alternative solutions.”