The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is warning that the water quality of Ireland’s rivers is continuing to fall, largely as a result of nitrogen and phosphorus entering our waterways.
According to a new study by the agency, ‘Water Quality in 2017: An Indicators Report for Ireland’, rivers here suffered a 3% net decrease in water quality between 2015 and 2017.
When this is compared to the previous study, covering the period 2013 to 2015, 269 bodies of water have deteriorated since then, with only 197 improving.
The EPA claims that the drop-off in quality is a result of excessive nitrogen and phosphorus entering rivers and waterways, and the level of these substances are starting to rise again after a long-term reduction.
According to the agency, water quality will continue to decline unless the rise in chemicals is addressed.
Serious pollution of Irish waterways continues to decrease, according to the study: Of all the water bodies that were examined, only two were found to be seriously contaminated, compared with five in the 2013 to 2015 study.
According to the agency, in the late 1980s, 91 bodies of water were found to be seriously polluted.
Fish kills also appear to be less frequent, with only 14 such incidents reported in 2017, compared with 31 in 2016.
Clean, healthy water is essential to our health and well-being. The signals in this report are not good and tell us that water quality is still getting worse in some areas, despite improvements in others.
“Substantial additional resources have recently been put in place by the State, with the creation of the Local Authority Waters Programme and the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advice Programme,” said Dr. Matt Crowe, director of the EPA’s office of Evidence and Assessment.
“These programmes will support action at local level to address the issues causing water pollution,” he added.
His colleague, Andy Fanning, programme manager in the same office, said: “The report highlights that the loss of our best quality waters is continuing. It is also clear that there is a general decline in river water quality.”