Low water quality trend puts EPA on the alert
As these fall from 4.6% to 2.7% of river stations, the EPA has recommended that local authorities identify the causes and rectify them as a matter of urgency, and advised increased control over upland land-users, such as cattle and sheep farmers and foresters.
In the west of Ireland and Wicklow, local authorities, fisheries boards and the EPA have identified forestry activities as a likely primary source of pollution.
North Tipperary County Council has attributed the loss of three of its five highest biological water quality stations as most probably due to silt from forest harvesting and planting.
Meanwhile, over-grazing remains a significant issue in the protection of surface waters, according to the EPA. It is blamed for eliminating salmon and trout spawning in many rivers, and aerial surveys by the Central Fisheries Board in 2003 revealed substantial sheep numbers in areas that are severely overgrazed.
According to the EPA, very significant damage to vegetation and soils on considerable areas of the western uplands is continuing.
“It is to be hoped that the CAP reform package and application of cross-compliance measures will result in greater reductions in sheep numbers and reduce overgrazing pressures further”, said the EPA.
The agency has emphasised the importance of maintaining the relatively pristine conditions primarily found in river stretches with low levels of catchment pressures.
Their protection is crucial to the survival of pollution sensitive species, and these waters provide valuable dilution for downstream rivers and lakes.
