River Water Quality Is Deteriorating - EPA

River water quality is deteriorating, according to findings from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA has published the Water Quality in Ireland Report for the period 2013-2018.

92% of groundwater bodies, 80% of coastal waters, 53% of rivers, 50% of lakes and 38% of estuaries were found to be of satisfactory quality.

Since the last full assessment, river water quality has got worse, with a net decline of 5.5% (128 water bodies) in the status of river water bodies.

EPA Director Matt Crowe said: "Ireland has made commitments to protect and improve water quality, under the Water Framework Directive and the National River Basin Management Plan 2018-2021. The aim of European and National Water Policy is to get polluted waters clean again, and ensure clean waters are kept clean.

"However, the findings of this report indicate that water quality is getting worse after a period of relative stability and improvement. We now have an increase in the number of the most polluted river sites, and the number of rivers in poor ecological health is also increasing. Positive trends reported previously by the EPA have reversed. Not only are we failing to improve overall water quality, we are also failing to prevent further deterioration of our rivers."

The main significant pressures impacting water quality in Ireland include agriculture, wastewater discharges, impacts to the physical habitat conditions including excess sediment (hydromorphology), and pressures from forestry activities. Of particular concern in the most recent assessment is the increase in nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) finding their way into our water bodies. Agriculture and waste water are the main sources of nutrients. Over a quarter of river sites monitored have increasing nutrient levels and nutrient loads to the marine environment have also increased.