The document presents an assessment of Ireland's water environment, detailing current quality status, pollution sources, and management responses. It highlights that 85.6% of groundwater aquifers and 71% of rivers are at good status, while eutrophication remains a main pollutant for lakes. It stresses the need for ongoing measures to control nutrients, manage wastewater, and protect high-status waters to improve overall water quality.

1. Ireland’s Environment – An Assessment 2012
Water
Martin McGarrigle
27 June 2012

2. Ireland’s Environment 2012 - Water
 The Current Situation
 Drivers and Pressures
 Responses
 Outlook

3. Water - The Current Situation
 Groundwater
 Rivers
 Lakes
 Transitional and Coastal Waters

4. Groundwater Quality
85.6% of the area of
groundwater aquifers is at good
status

5. Groundwater Quality
 GW 25% Drinking Water
 GW affects ecology of rivers & estuaries - low flows - sea lettuce)
 GW influenced by SW phosphates in karst areas especially
 Nitrate Concentrations are influenced by rainfall variation from year to year
 Microbial pathogens are an important consideration – 40% of all samples taken
from 285 wells and springs – a threat to private water supplies in particular

6. River Water Quality
• 71% of river channel is at high or good status
• Serious pollution almost gone
• Slight and Moderate pollution stabilised ~29%

7. Loss of Highest Quality Waters
• High Status waters still declining
• They are easily degraded but it’s
very important to protect them.

8. International Comparisons

9. Lake Water Quality
• 46.6% of lakes monitored are at high or good status
• The main form of pollution is still eutrophication or over-
enrichment with phosphate and nitrate.
• Rivers flow into lakes carrying nutrients – need to implement
measures in their catchments upstream.

10. Lake Water Quality – International Comparisons

11. Quality of Transitional and Coastal Waters
46% of transitional and coastal waters are at
high or good status.

12. Quality of Transitional and Coastal Waters
 Transitional Waters in Top 5 across Europe
 Under pressure due to coastal population
 Coastal Waters
 Among the best in Europe
 70% achieve high or good status
 Urban Wastewater is the biggest threat
 Some big improvements seen – e.g. Sligo WWTP
 Nitrogen from Agricultural Sources
 Argideen near Courtmacsherry – sea lettuce

13. Drivers and Pressures

14. Responses
 River Basin Management Plans - Programme of Measures

15. Programme of Measures boil down to six actions
 1. Controlling the inputs of phosphorus and nitrogen to waters.
 2. Controlling inputs of oxygen using matter (e.g. silage, milk
waste, sewage).
 3. Controlling pathogens in water.
 4. Complete elimination of dangerous substances (priority
substances) and control of specific pollutants to protect aquatic
communities and human health.
 5. Ensuring that there is a sufficient volume of water in all our water
bodies.
 6. Controlling hydromorphological conditions (physical
characteristics of the shape and boundaries of the water body)
both in-stream and along riparian zones.

16. Tackling Pollution
 Diffuse Pollution
 Agriculture – farmyards and fields
 Good Agricultural Practice
 Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems (septic tanks)
 Registration and Inspections under Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012
 Forestry – planting, fertilising, clear felling, acidification
 Forest and Water Guidelines, Acid Sensitive Protocol, Hen Harrier, Unenclosed Land
 Large Point Source Pollution
 Licensing of large Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants
 Certification of smaller (<500 pe) WWTPs
 Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Licensing
 Water Pollution Act - Section 4 licences

17. Urban Wastewater
 93% of urban waste water discharges in Ireland received secondary treatment or
better.
 11 large urban areas do not meet the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
(UWWTD) requirement to have secondary treatment in place.
 Bray and Ringaskiddy,
 Clifden,
 Moville,
 Eight urban areas do not meet the UWWTD requirement to provide nutrient
reduction in addition to secondary treatment
 This includes the cities of Dublin, Cork and Kilkenny.
 46% of waste water treatment plants did not meet all waste water quality standards
or EPA guidelines.

18. Eliminating Serious Pollution
 The extent of serious pollution of rivers has been reduced
significantly in recent years.
 In 2004–2006, 39 sites were categorised as seriously
polluted.
 In 2007–2009 this had dropped to 20 sites.
 By 2011 there was a further significant reduction to 11 sites.
 Currently, approximately 18 km of river channel remains
seriously polluted from a total length of 13,200 km surveyed.

19. Outlook
 We have reduced serious pollution
 Need to tackle slight and moderate pollution on a site by site
basis
 – point or diffuse pollution
 Lakes will respond to reduced nutrient inputs from rivers
 Improvements in Coastal areas due to new Urban WWTP
 Still 42 coastal towns requiring upgrading
 Reduction of riverine nutrient inputs also important
 Groundwater status dependent on surface waters
 Improvements in rivers will bring some GWs up in status too.
 Longer term in some cases and some e.g. mine wastes may be more
intractable

20. Outlook
 Protection of High Status waters - very important
 Food Harvest 2020 brings new challenges
 Business as usual will mean more pollution
 Decouple intensity of agriculture from potential impacts
 Preventing direct cattle access to water for example
 Nutrient management plans
 Buffer zones at potential ‘hot spots’ or critical source areas
 Governance of Water Framework Implementation
 Three tier strategy proposed

21. Water Framework Governance
 Tier 1: National Management and Oversight: Led by the DECLG,
the main emphasis would be on:
 preparation of policy and national regulations
 steering the WFD implementation at a national level
 addressing funding priorities, including integrating the Water Services
 Investment Programme and WFD programmes of measures
 national-level interaction with Irish Water
 planning and development coordination related to water quality issues.

22. Water Framework Governance
 Tier 2: National Technical Implementation and Reporting: Led by
the EPA, the activities would focus principally on:
 monitoring, assessment and reporting
 production of River Basin Management Plans
 evaluation and implementation of measures
 monitoring of enforcement tasks and environmental outcomes.

23. Water Framework Governance
 Tier 3: Regional Implementation via Water Networks: Led by the
lead local authority within the RBD, this level would address:
 public awareness and participation
 implementation of Programmes of Measures by relevant public bodies,
tracking and reporting, in consultation with EPA
 local authority monitoring, licensing and enforcement actions
 follow-up investigative monitoring aimed at pin-pointing sources of pollution.